


Of Playdates and Coffee Kisses

by Glowpear



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Football, Awkward Crush, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Footballer Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, OT12 (EXO), Physiotherapist Luhan, Shy Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Student Kim Minseok | Xiumin, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-03-20 10:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18990628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowpear/pseuds/Glowpear
Summary: Minseok is a normal university student struggling with exams, deadlines and the general stress of adulthood. In his free time, he usually visits his local gym and plays football with his team on one of the football fields at the facility. He loves regularly playing football there and he also very much loves frequently visiting the cute Chinese physiotherapist working there. Will Minseok be able to finally catch the other’s attention and win him over with playdates and coffee kisses?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first chapter of a story I started a few months ago. It's my first longer work and the first time I wrote something like this in English. I'm not a native speaker, so there might be some mistakes, but I still hope that you'll enjoy my story!

Minseok was exhausted. It had been a difficult week for him, studying for his exams and preparing for the big game at the end of the season. Not only was he stressed beyond any measure, having to deal with physics and algebra all weekend, but he also felt kind of drained after another extensive session of training, resulting in him accidentally tripping over one of his teammates, while Yifan was shouting at him to get his shit together. Having his mind occupied with his studies didn’t really help him concentrate on the game, which lead to him making several careless mistakes and hurting himself in the process. He was irritated, his head was buzzing and his muscles were straining. He needed to relax.

 

“Geez, Minseok, you really need to get back into the game! You’re the captain after all!” Yifan, their trainer, scolded him. “Your mind is too preoccupied with other stuff. I need you in your best condition for the final game! Try to unwind a bit and go see Luhan. I expect you to deliver peak performance at next week’s training.”

 

Minseok just nodded his head, not being one to argue. Yifan was right after all and honestly speaking there were far worse things he could image than paying their private physiotherapist a visit. For example having to run penalty laps like Jongdae and Baekhyun currently had to, after testing Yifan’s patience again. Minseok snickered. _These Idiots_. He knew better than to provoke an already fuming coach, so he kept his mouth shut.

 

Besides, visiting their Chinese physiotherapist was hardly a punishment to Minseok. Luhan was very good looking, he had to admit. Tall and slender, with honey blonde hair and a warm welcoming smile. His soft, but determined, touches never failed to make Minseok relax and unwind after a long exhausting week of hunching over university books and being tired out by extensive training sessions.

 

Minseok was a bit smitten with him, if he was perfectly honest, harbouring a small crush for the charismatic Chinese man. Nonetheless, he tried to not let his infatuation get to his head, keeping things casual and professional with Luhan, not once trying to act on his feelings. Still, he wasn’t opposed to enjoy his guilty pleasure every once in a while. There was no harm done by it anyway and Minseok knew better than to let his mind wander to dangerous places. He wasn’t a pervert, after all.

 

The thing was that Luhan was not only blatantly good looking, but also nice and easy to talk to. Minseok had always been a little shy, but Luhan never failed to make him feel relaxed and at ease, not only by his touches but also by his kind and friendly demeanour. Overall, Minseok just really enjoyed the other’s company on top of a nice relaxing massage. So it was no wonder for the Korean man to feel his mind relax and his guts bubbling up with a little anticipation as he made his way to Luhan’s office.

 

Luhan was almost always in his office, being the only physiotherapist working full-time in the Training Hall, or the Hall, as they liked to call it. He had a neat, nicely equipped room down the hallway, near the reception and changing rooms, not far from the football field Minseok’s team uses to train at.

 

His office was always tidy and clean, with a little desk sitting opposite the door and a curtain hanging on the left hand side to separate the massage table from the rest of the room. Luhan was mostly alone in his office, sometimes accompanied by Jimin, his assistant, who was still at university and apprenticed to the older physiotherapist. Jimin was a pleasant kind of guy, always polite, although at times a little shy. Not that it mattered to Minseok, he wasn’t a very out there person himself. Today though, Luhan was alone when Minseok entered the room after a brief knock. The physiotherapist sat on his desk, hunched over a stack of paperwork only looking up shortly before recognizing his guest.

 

“Ah Minseok! It’s nice to see you.” He offered politely. “Come on in and sit down please.”

 

Minseok did as he was told and sat across from Luhan as the other was moving his paperwork aside and removed his glasses from his cute button nose.

 

“What can I do for you today? Do you have any problems? Did you get hurt somewhere?” He asked, letting his big doe-eyes wander over Minseok's body, as if he was expecting to find a huge slashing wound or something. The thought was funny to Minseok somehow, though he appreciated the other's concern. Upon not finding any visible injury, Luhan had furrowed his eyebrows a bit and looked at Minseok with a slightly worried expression before the other explained himself.

 

“No, no it’s none of that, fortunately. I am just a bit tense, upcoming game and all, so Yifan told me to come here and relax a bit. Getting my mind off university stress and stuff like that so I can focus on playing again.”

 

Luhan nodded in understanding, playing with the bridge of his glasses between his fingers. “Good, I can work with that.” He said, smiling at Minseok warmly now. “You can go behind the curtain to undress already, if you want to. I’ll go to the storage room to warm the oil up.” Minseok nodded, reciprocating Luhan’s smile lightly. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, just make yourself comfortable.” And with that the physician vanished through the other door at the end of the room.

 

Minseok was already dressed down to his boxers, storing his valuables in the little box under the massage table when Luhan returned with the warmed oil, kept in a small, heated container. “Ready?” The physiotherapist enthusiastically asked as he slipped through the curtains. Minseok almost squeaked, not having expected for Luhan to return this early. He could never get quite used to the other seeing him so exposed, his crush paired with his shyness getting the best out of him.

 

When he first came here to get a tension massaged out of his back, he was a bit reluctant to undress in front of the gorgeous physiotherapist. He came to the office grumbling in pain after Baekhyun had _accidentally_ tackled him, resulting in a nasty fall on his back. The little prick had gotten his punishment in form of twenty extra leaps and a hundred push-ups, but Minseok was annoyed nonetheless.

 

Muttering to himself in annoyance, he had knocked on the physiotherapist’s door, somehow expecting a huge, hunky guy, build like a brick, to open the door. What he didn’t expect though, was for the most beautiful man he had ever laid his eyes on to be standing right in front of him. Minseok’s jaw had dropped back then, not being able to formulate a proper sentence.

 

Luhan had looked at him expectantly, smiling politely and asking Minseok if he could help him with anything, while slightly raising his eyebrows at the other’s stunned expression.

 

Minseok was still staring, unable to move. He briefly considered if this was some kind of cruel joke, almost suspecting a stupidly grinning Baekhyun or Chanyeol hiding somewhere to play some dumb trick on him. Setting him up with that hot guy, watching him squirm from afar, as he would need to undress in front of this painfully attractive stranger.

 

But the longer he starred and racked his brains for any possible evil intend behind the gorgeous man’s smile, the more stupid and unreasonable he felt. Finally coming to his senses, he cleared his throat and explained his problem.

 

Although Luhan had listened intently, Minseok still didn’t trust the other not to be another one of Baekhyun’s friends, who was in on some strange kind of bet. After his initial hesitation though, Minseok came to realize that Luhan was nothing if not professional.

 

By now he had visited the attractive physiotherapist already several times, getting acquainted with him fairly well. He knew now that the other was not only a professional and very good at what he was doing, but also very kind-hearted and respectful. Minseok’s initial reluctance of getting touched by Luhan due to the fear of falling victim to some kind of twisted prank had moved to a reluctance of an entirely different origin.

 

Sure, he had thought Luhan attractive from the very beginning, but the more he got to know him the more he realised that he had developed a crush for the soft and caring man. That didn’t help him to be less embarrassed to be undressed in front of the other, though. It wasn’t as if he was insecure about his body. Being and athlete and hitting the gym regularly had blessed him with a strong and fairly well defined body. He knew that his efforts had paid of, not being the chubby child he used to be anymore, but he was still awfully shy in front of Luhan.

 

Back to the present, Minseok still had problems with keeping his cool. He had nodded in answer to Luhan’s question if he was ready, turning his back to the other man, while climbing on the massage table. A faint blush was playing on his cheeks, but he tried to will it away by concentrating on the task at hand, which was relaxing and letting Luhan’s fingers work their magic.

 

Luhan was mostly silent through his sessions, letting his patients fully revel in his relaxing massage. He would occasionally ask if he should apply more or less pressure, or if everything was to Minseok’s satisfaction, but that was about it. Minseok didn’t mind though, he wasn’t a big talker to begin with and with Luhan he was always slightly on the edge, afraid of blurting out something stupid, while being caught up in the strong but soft touches. Yet, the other would sometimes engage in a conversation, as long as Minseok was the one who started it. He often wondered, if it was out of consideration, or if it was simply a lack of interest on the physiotherapist’s side. Luhan was tactful like that, not wanting to disturb his patients in any kind of way.

 

Still, Minseok couldn’t fathom why the other man would be interested in any part of his boring life and was kind of afraid to bore the physiotherapist with his conversations. Nonetheless, Luhan seemed to enjoy talking to Minseok, always answering any of his questions politely, showing interest in his stories and even asking his own questions in return. So when Minseok had slowly calmed down from his nervousness, giving in to Luhan’s massage completely, he tried so start a casual conversation with the other man.

 

“So Luhan, any plans for the weekend?” Minseok had only tried to be friendly with the other, throwing out a random question to start a conversation. Luhan, though, seemed to be in a playful mood today.

 

“Why? Do you want to spend time with me outside of the office?” He responded teasingly.

 

If Minseok hadn’t been so flustered by Luhan’s teasing he might have heard the playful tone in the other’s voice. He began to splutter, trying to come up with an answer only to choke on his own spit, coughing a few times.

 

“Relax, I was only joking.” Luhan chuckled as Minseok tried to regain his composure. “And to come back to your question...I don’t really have much planned out yet, to be honest. Yifan and I might watch some kind of basketball game together, though.” He answered truthfully.

 

“I am not really that much of a basketball fan myself, but it’s fun hanging out like this from time to time, sipping a few beers and watching Yifan grumble in annoyance when his favourite team is losing again.” Luhan explained. He was laughing again, seemingly amused by the prospect of an agonized Yifan.

 

“Otherwise, I really need to clean up my apartment this weekend. So nothing too interesting is going on really, though I think I might hit the field on Sunday evening when no one is around here.”

 

Minseok ears perched up at that. “You play?”

 

“Occasionally, yeah. I used to play a lot in high school, back in China. I was even captain for quite some time.” Luhan answered honestly.

 

_Interesting_ , Minseok thought. He hadn’t known that fact about Luhan, yet. “How come you never told me about that?”

 

“You never asked.” Luhan retorted, voice still soft and a little bit teasing.

 

Minseok thought about that for a moment. Luhan was right, he had never asked about that, but he would have thought that something like this should have come up in at least one of their conversations by now, considering that Minseok was a soccer player himself.

 

“I guess.” He muttered unconvinced.

 

“Hey, no need to pout.” Luhan chuckled warmly, although he couldn’t see Minseok’s face in this position. “It’s not a big deal, really. I usually just play by myself on Sundays to stay fit and to get a little bit of fresh air and diversion. You know, the free gym is nice and all, especially if you have access to the facility 24/7 as an employee here, but it can get kind of boring from time to time.”

 

Minseok could understand that. Although, he liked his private and quiet workout sessions, far away from any screaming members of the Beagle Line, (as Minseok and the rest of the team liked to call Baekhyun, Jongdae and Chanyeol) he still would have missed the heat of the game. Fighting for the ball, coming up with a tactic, tossing the ball from one person to another and feeling the air burn in his lungs. Football was a team sport, so one always needed to function as a piece of the bigger picture and Minseok very much liked that, even though he enjoyed his time alone. What also got his blood boiling was the heat of the moment when one was fighting to keep the ball, dribbling and dodging, always on guard for any sneaky moves to retrieve the ball.

 

Yeah, Minseok really loved playing football.

 

As if reading his mind Luhan continued: “Though it isn’t really that much fun to play alone all the time. Yifan is usually busy with God knows what, always fending me off. Saying that he has had enough fill of football for the week.” Luhan says as he laughs again at that.

 

Minseok can kind of understand the sentiment, having to deal with the stupid antics of the Beagle Line himself, as well as eight other very lively, young men. Sure, not all of them had bubbly and loud personalities and all of them were lovely guys, once you got to know them, but it was a lot to deal with, nonetheless.

 

“It would be nice to have a partner to play with, but most of the other guys on the team usually have really busy weekends.” Luhan continued. I already asked Baekhyun and Yixing if they would like to join me, but Yixing is always busy with studies, finishing his degree in medicine and Baekhyun usually nurses a heavy hangover from all the partying he does, although we occasionally did meet up to play an hour or two.”

 

Minseok hadn’t known that. He knew Baekhyun was a social butterfly and with all the stunts he pulled in and out of training it was no surprise he ended up at Luhan’s office regularly. Minseok was still a bit put off, though. He hadn’t known that Baekhyun and Luhan were close enough to occasionally hang out together and play a round or two. Up until now he had always thought Luhan’s relationship to the team was only professional, aside of Yifan of course, who had been childhood friends with Luhan back in China already. Although it did make sense, Minseok supposed. All of them being roughly the same age and all, the youngest member Sehun and the oldest, who was no other than Minseok himself, only being four years apart. Yifan was the same age as Minseok and so was Luhan, all of them being born in the same year.

 

Still he was a bit sulky, wondering why Luhan had never bothered to ask him. “Why didn’t you ask me instead?” He said without thinking.

 

Luhan stopped his movements briefly, resting his hands on Minseok’s lower back. He didn't say anything for a moment, so Minseok peeked up at him, curiosity getting the best out of him.

 

“Would you?” Luhan finally asked, surprise apparent in his voice. Minseok blushed red at the other’s hopeful expression turning to face down again so Luhan wouldn’t notice. “Of course I would, why wouldn’t I?” He grumbled embarrassed into the mattress.

 

Luhan paused shortly again at that before he continued, now with more confidence: “Well, then it’s set. I’ll see you on Sunday 7pm at the field.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Things are progressing very slowly between this couple and this chapter is a lot shorter than the others, so I decided to post two.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Also, Minseok's thoughts are written in italics, as well as some other words that are specifically emphasised.

Well, that had been a bad idea. What had he been thinking?

 

Minseok had let his mouth speak before he could think this whole thing through. His stomach was churning and his hands were clammy. He was beyond nervous, only thinking about the prospect of spending an hour or more alone with Luhan on the field. Although, he didn’t need to undress for that, the whole ordeal seemed a lot more personal than his weekly massages at Luhan’s office.

 

Even though, football usually didn’t involve a lot of talking, Minseok still felt like he was prone to say something stupid, now that he really had the opportunity to talk to Luhan outside of his office.

 

He internally cursed himself for letting jealousy get the best out of him, springing on the very first opportunity to get to know Luhan better, instead of continuing to admire him form afar. He surely was going to make a fool out of himself, doing or saying something extremely stupid and making things awkward between him and the other man.

 

Maybe he would utterly embarrass himself, falling over his own feet while trying to kick the ball or accidentally tripping the other while he was too lost in the man’s bright eyes or his beautiful smile. Minseok sighed. _Good job Minseok, you are so going to make a fool out of yourself._

 

Still, he was was also kind of thrilled and excited in prospect of spending the evening with Luhan. It wasn’t anything romantic and by far not a _date_ or anything like that, he tried to reason with himself. _No need to get so nervous. Just a friendly match, that’s all_ , he thought.

 

Even though, he really wanted to impress the other by showing of his football skills. Luhan had never seen him play, so this was his chance to show the other some of his skillful moves. Maybe, his football skills would make up for his lacking skills in communicating. Hopefully, Luhan would enjoy playing with him so much that this could become a regular thing, giving Minseok the opportunity to get to know the physiotherapist better.

 

At half past six, Minseok was the first to arrive at the field, being nutritiously punctual and also maybe a bit nervous. He knew that he was half an hour too early, so he used his remaining time alone to stretch a bit and calm his nerves down, concentrating on the burn of his muscles and his own breathing. Luhan arrived soon after, only a few minutes short to 7 o’clock, clad in football clothes and sports bag in hand, waving enthusiastically at Minseok, as soon as he spotted him.

 

Minseok gulped a bit at the sight of the physiotherapist’s warm smile and prominent, well defined legs, peeking out under the other’s football shorts. He had never noticed before, how muscular Luhan’s thighs were. It was clear that the other must have played a lot of football when he was younger. Minseok shook his head, trying to get rid of his wandering thoughts. Now was not the time to ogle Luhan’s perfectly sculptured body. He needed to concentrate, not wanting to make a fool out of himself.

 

“Hey, it’s good to see you!” Luhan greeted, smiling at Minseok warmly.

 

The other man just nodded, not daring to look the Chinese man longer in the eyes after blatantly gawking at his thighs. If the other had noticed he didn’t say anything though, just keeping up his positive attitude.

 

“I see you have been stretching already, just give me a minute and I will join you.” The blonde man said while taking off his sports bag and placing it near the side lines.

 

Minseok just hummed, relieved at having another moment to calm his nerves down. _It’s getting ridiculous kid, he’_ _s_ _just wearing football clothes. Get a grip._

 

After Luhan had finished his warm-up, he and Minseok began with a few short agility exercises before getting to play one on one. Surprisingly Minseok was pretty calm as soon as he started to kick the ball and feel the heat of the game. This was his territory. His comfort zone. He knew what to do and he was able to carry out his moves with precision and accuracy.

 

Luhan was not far behind, though. Years and years of football training coming to light in his precise and well executed dribbling. Minseok was impressed. Luhan was a worthy opponent, keeping him on his toes throughout their little match, even being able to snatch the ball from Minseok here and there. Still, Minseok won by a few points, having the advantage of regular training sessions and years of practice himself.

 

Huffing and gasping for air, both men fell down on the cool grass, exhausted, but still exceedingly happy.

 

“Damn, Lu! I didn’t know you could play like that! When you said you were occasionally practising I thought about going slow on you, but I might have underestimated you.” Minseok exclaimed bluntly, caught up in his bliss, before even considering that his words might have been a bit insulting. Eyes suddenly widening he turned his head to Luhan, gauging his reaction, but the other man just snorted good heartedly.

 

“Tsk if only you had gone against me in high school. I would have crushed you.” He taunted, but there was no bite behind it.

 

Minseok snickered. “Sure, just tell yourself that, I would have crushed you under any imaginable circumstances.” The Korean teased back, feeling more comfortable now that he knew that he hadn’t offended Luhan.

 

“Don’t flatter yourself, honey. Also ‘Lu’? When did you take on calling me that?” Luhan asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking mischievously at Minseok. Being caught of guard by the sudden change in teasing and the nickname, Minseok promptly flushed red, turning away and leaving a softly laughing Luhan beside him.

 

“It’s fine, you know.” Luhan said, laughing again. “You should call me Lu-ge though, I am sure I am older than you.” At that Minseok turned around, pout slowly merging into curiosity.

 

“Lu-ge?” Minseok asked.

 

“Yeah that’s right.” Luhan answered smiling proudly, taking in Minseok’s cute expression.

 

“What does it mean, though? I have heard Yifan call you that from time to time. Is it something like a nickname?”

 

“Ahh no not quite, it’s actually the equivalent to the Korean term ‘hyung’.” Luhan explained. Minseok wondered about that. He had never once heard Yixing use that term when talking to Yifan, the younger always referring to the older as ‘duizhang’, which meant something like captain or leader, as far as Minseok knew.

 

“So you are older than me?” Minseok asked surprised.

 

“Yeah I’m pretty sure.” Luhan answered nonchalantly. “When is your birthday? Mine is the 20th of April 1990.”

 

“Ha! I am older than you! I was born on the 26th of March 1990.” Minseok snickered, pleased with the new found information.

 

“Wow, wait really? I thought you were younger for sure! I didn’t even think we were born in the same year!” Luhan said surprised. “You have such a cute and youthful face, though.” The Chinese mused, moving closer to get a better look at Minseok’s face. Under the other’s intense stare Minseok turned red again, adverting his eyes from the physiotherapist’ sparkling ones. _What the hell is he doing?_ Minseok thought. _And...did he just really call me cute?!_

 

“Look at your pale, round cheeks! You look like a Baozi!” Luhan continued amused, reaching out to hold Minseok’s face in his hands, squeezing lightly.

 

Minseok squirmed at that, usually not being fond of people touching his face or coming too close without his permission. With Luhan though, he squirmed because of an entirely different reason. Growing increasingly more flustered, he briefly wondered, if the other had ever heard of the concept of personal space. That guy was really trying to kill him with all this touching. He didn’t seem to notice Minseok’s internal struggle though, still analysing his face intently.

 

“What even is a Baozi?” Minseok asked through squished cheeks, trying regain some of his senses again.

 

“Hm?” Luhan asked, entirely immersed in inspecting the other’s face. “Oh uh… A dumpling, I suppose?” He explained, smiling at Minseok and looking directly into his eyes now.

 

The sparks began to fly as their eyes met and Minseok suddenly was quite sure that Luhan might spontaneously kiss him, if he came any closer. Minseoks’s heart began to beat faster at that thought. He closed his eyes, not being able to handle the other man’s close proximity and was almost expecting to feel a soft pair of lips any second.

 

Yet, almost as soon as Minseok had closed his eyes, Luhan’s touch had vanished again. The physiotherapist leaned back on his arms again, studying Minseok for a while as the other slowly reopened his eyes again.

 

There was a moment of silence and a heavy tension set in the air, as the two of them were watching each other for a few moments. Then, as if awakening from a trance, Luhan shook his and smiled a little.

 

“Hm, fair enough, I guess. I had my own fair share of age related misunderstandings.” He continued nonchalantly, as if he just hadn’t almost caused Minseok a heart attack. After a moment though, he began to grin mischievously and added: “I still want you to call me Lu-ge, though.”

 

Minseok looked at him for a moment, petrified. He slowly tried to regain control over his body again, coughing slightly to find his voice. _Is he flirting with me or is he just teasing?_ Minseok wondered briefly. He wasn’t sure but he decided it was probably the latter, so before embarrassing himself any further he countered just as teasingly with a “Tsk have a little respect for your elders, you brat. Have you seen yourself in the mirror?” and a light shove. “You look like you are just fresh out of high school and that’s still nicely put”

 

Luhan just laughed wholeheartedly at that, his face shifting into an ugly grimace. Minseok had never seen Luhan laughing unrestrained like that, far from the professionally schooled smile the physiotherapist usually showed to his patients and the people working in the Hall. It wasn’t really a good look on him to be honest, but Minseok found it endearing nonetheless. He had to admit that he felt kind of special, seeing this new personal side of Luhan, laughing and joking around with the other man. It put him at ease and made him extremely happy.

 

Luhan seemed to feel the same way, although the overly friendly and sociable man was getting along well with anybody. Minseok still hoped he could mould himself a specially place in Luhan’s heart, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, Minseok is kind of ambivalent about his feelings. On the one side he really likes to spend time with Luhan and on the other he is awfully shy. Although, he sometimes is really tense when spending time with the other, he also really much enjoys it. I hope it's clear that he doesn't feel uncomfortable because of Luhan but because of his crush on the other.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of my update! Hope you enjoy it!

After their little one on one match, Luhan and Minseok had met every week to play together, growing closer and closer.

 

Minseok, though still nervous, began to really enjoy himself, getting more comfortable around the other man with every meeting. He was almost able to fully unwind, considering that his little crush on the physiotherapist only became stronger every time they saw each other, but he had still a terrible time at constantly hiding his feelings.

 

Besides their weekly football matches and occasional sessions in Luhan’s office though, they didn’t meet outside the Hall. That changed drastically however, when Minseok pulled a hamstring at one of their games against the football team of a nearby university.

 

At this point, they had been up to three _dates_ , as Yixing liked to call them, teasing Minseok endlessly about it, as soon as the topic had popped up at one of his own sessions at Luhan’s office. Minseok deliberately denied that his friendly meetings with Luhan had been _dates_ , defending himself that the physiotherapist had already asked Baekhyun and the other Chinese man himself before him. Yixing had only laughed at the other, raising an eyebrow at the growing redness in Minseoks face, but otherwise leaving the topic alone.

 

Still, it made him a bit sad to think that Luhan was most likely going to look for another training partner, now that Minseok had been out of the picture. Minseok had just been his third choice after all and they weren’t really friends to begin with. Sure, they had exchanged numbers and even texted here and there, but it had never been more than a few messages and it had always something to do with the topic of football.

 

Minseok had to admit to himself that Luhan had just been looking for someone to train with, which wasn’t a rather difficult task, considering that he was working for a football team and a gym that had it’s own football field. In addition to that, Luhan had always been a social butterfly. He was surely going to find a new partner in no time.

 

With a heavy heart, Minseok made his way to Luhan’s office. He had been to a doctor two days ago and was supposed to rest for some time before he could start with therapy sessions to get his leg going again. After some consideration he decided that he might as well receive his therapy sessions from Luhan if he wasn’t going to see the man outside of his office anymore. If he was perfectly honest though, the doctor had told him that therapy sessions weren’t really necessary, but Minseok had needed a back up plan to still be able to see Luhan again.

 

Upon entering the office, Minesok noticed that Luhan wasn’t alone this time, sitting on his desk accompanied by his assistant Jimin. The both of them were leaning together closely, examining patients records, when Minseok entered the room.

 

Jimin noticed him first, looking up at Minseok and greeting him politely with an “Ah, hello Minseok-hyung!”

 

At that Luhan looked up as well, smiling brightly as soon as he had laid his eyes on Minseok. “Oh, hey Minseok! How are you doing? What brings you to the office today?”

 

Upon Minseok’s sheepish grimace, Luhan noticed that something must have been up. “Did something happen?” Luhan asked, now looking more and more concerned by the second.

 

“Ah, well I um… kinda pulled my hamstring a few days ago.” Minseok answered, scratching his head a little while looking away embarrassed.

 

At that Luhan mustered him a bit before asking how and when that had happened, if someone had fouled him again and why Minseok hadn’t texted him about this yet. Minseok grew a bit flustered by all the questions Luhan had thrown at him, spluttering for an answer, while Jimin was laughing at the two of them.

 

“Calm down Luhan-hyung.” Jimin said, still laughing good-heartedly. “Give him time to answer please.”

 

Luhan grumbled at that, though relenting nonetheless.

 

“Fine, so tell me what happened first.” He asked once more, focussing on Minseok again.

 

“Well, I was kinda running late for training on Monday because traffic had been pretty bad, so I guess I didn’t stretch myself enough and yeah… seems like I strained my right hamstring.”

 

If he was perfectly honest, Minseok had been lounging on his couch after university for an hour or two, smiling at his phone like an idiot, while he was texting with Luhan. He had been so caught up in their conversation that he hadn’t really noticed how late it was until he was almost too late for training. Afraid of Yifan’s reaction he had hurriedly made his way to the Hall and most likely pulled his hamstring there, even before the training had even begun. But he wasn’t going to tell that Luhan.

 

Minseok looked sheepish, glancing at the other from under his bangs. Somehow he felt kind of guilty now, considering how worried Luhan had looked. He even seemed a bit angry at Minseok for not looking after himself enough. Minseok knew that he wasn’t the first person that would be scolded by Luhan, knowing how often Chanyeol had already done all sort of stupid shit that had resulted in more or less severe injuries, always keeping Luhan worried and busy.

 

Chanyeol knew no shame though, shrugging the physiotherapist’s words off, while diving head first into the next reckless antics with the rest of the Beagle Line. Although Jongdae and Baekhyun were just as careless as their friend, Chanyeol was a lot clumsier, which might have saved them from Luhan’s scolding, but not from Yifan’s, though. Minseok had always found it funny, not being on the receiving end of the scolding, but now that he was for once in their position, he felt kind of guilty, even though Luhan didn’t really comment on it yet.

 

“Have you been to a doctor?” The physiotherapist asked, knowing full well that some of the guys had regularly come to him first, hoping to avoid long waiting periods at the doctor’s office, although Luhan always strongly advised them to see a doctor beforehand. He had always perceived Minseok as a more responsible person, though. Sure, he was a certified physiotherapist, but it was still recommended to visit a doctor first so Luhan wouldn’t misdiagnose something and knew what he had to deal with.

 

“Of course, Jongdae drove me there the next morning, making sure I didn’t need to drive there myself.” Minseok answered truthfully.

 

Although, Jongdae was also a member of the Beagle Line and therefore a pretty loud and sometimes obnoxious person, he was also very kind-hearted and friendly. One of Minseok’s best friends in the team, in fact, besides Yixing of course. They had known each other since their childhood days, actually, and it had also been Jongdae that had dragged him to the try-outs for his team. Jongdae hat already been part of the team for about two years, after being sent there by his room mate Junmyeon, who was coincidentally the coach of a rivalling team.

 

Minseok had been in a team as well then, occasionally joining his university team for some friendly matches. It had been on a rather irregular basis though, as he was pretty caught up in his studies back then. Besides that, the club had too many members to begin with anyway, so Minseok functioned more as a kind of substitute when the other students where too lazy or to busy to show up to games or training sessions. He hadn’t minded back then, but after he had gained a few pounds through extensive study sessions, filled with physic books, coffee, doughnuts and a lot of Chinese takeaway he decided that he needed a more regular training to get fit again.

 

His first notion was to join a fitness club or something like that to adjust his training to his schedule. But after he had talked to Jongdae about the topic, the younger had asked him to just join the team. That way he could still play football and get an included membership to the gym as well and, of course, spent his time with his _favourite dongsaeng_. Minseok had snorted at him back then, but Jongdae had a point. He didn’t really need to think twice about his suggestion, as it was the perfect opportunity for him and so he had joined the team about month later.

 

That had been almost about a year ago now. Since that, he had made a lot of friends on the team and has gotten close to all of the members. Even with the rest of the Beagle Line, although they could be quite annoying when put together. But Minseok loved his friends, nonetheless. They were all good guys. It had also been about ten months or so since he first saw Luhan, already being fascinated back then by how stunning the other was. I didn’t help that he got to know the physiotherapist better now, only fuelling his crush for the other man.

 

Minseok sighed at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to see Luhan outside of his office anymore and hung his head a little. “I am sorry, it’s not really a severe injury or anything, but I won’t be able to play with you for the next three weeks or with anyone else that is…”

 

He scratched his head again, continuing. “You can look for another partner in the time being, though. I can ask Jongdae, if you want to, I’m sure he’s up for it.”

 

Minseok looked at Luhan then, gauging his reaction. The other just sighed dramatically, leaning back in his chair and looking at Minseok.

 

“That’s not really an issue though, we can still meet up and watch football together, if you want to. I meant to ask you anyway, considering that Yifan rarely joins me anymore.” He looks at Minseok before he continued: “I mean… you told me you really enjoy watching football, too, so why not watch it together? It’s more fun like that anyway, even if we don’t support the same team.”

 

Minseok was surprised at that. “Wait, seriously? But what about training? Didn’t you say that you miss playing football?”

 

Luhan paused for a moment, looking a bit astonished for a second. He seemed to be pondering for another few seconds before he answered. “Well yeah, but it’s getting cold anyway and it would be a nice change to not get my ass kicked by you every weekend.”

 

Minseok laughed at that. “Sure then, if you really want to.” He said with a smile, glad that Luhan was still willing to spend time with him. Maybe the other really did consider him a friend.

 

“Good, I’ll see you Friday evening at my apartment then. I’ll text you the address later.”

 

“Good.” Minseok answered, still smiling.

 

“Um, I don’t want to interrupt or anything, but didn’t you come here because of your strained hamstring?” Jimin reminded Minseok gently. With another person it might have sounded teasing but with Jimin it just seemed like well meant concern. Minseok had totally forgotten that the other man was in the room as well.

 

“Ah, right, I almost forgot.” He answered sheepishly. “Well, the doctor said I won’t be able to participate in training for the next three weeks, but he advised me to do a bit of stretching exercises. Would you mind helping me with that?”

 

Minseok felt stupid as soon as the question was out. After Luhan hat invited him, he had forgotten about his petty excuse to see the other man and only now realised how dumb he had sounded. Sure, Luhan was their official physiotherapist, but it wasn’t exactly as if he had a servere injury that needed supervision while healing. He could do the stretching perfectly fine by himself.

 

“You know, I mean, if… if this isn’t too much to ask. I mean, I know you are very busy at the moment, but I thought it might be better to have someone look after it so that I, you know… don’t do anything wrong, straining it even more or anything.” He paused for a moment before he continued. “Yifan would kill me for sure if I make it even worse now. It’s a miracle that he didn’t already, considering that it’s game season and all. So if you want to, maybe you can help?” Minseok asked. He knew he was babbling, but he felt trapped somehow.

 

Luhan didn’t seem to notice though, casually agreeing with him. “Sure, why not? Come and see me every Tuesday and Thursday then, starting next week. I should find some time for you between two and four o’clock. Is that alright with you?”

 

“Yes, sure! Of course!” Minseok answered enthusiastically.

 

They smiled at each other happily for a few moments, before Jimin cleared his throat drawing their attention to the assistant once more. “I am really sorry to interrupt again, but don’t we need to finish the paperwork?”

 

“Ah yes, you’re right. Sorry Minseok, I think I have to kick you out for now.” Luhan said, slightly embarrassed.

 

“No no, it’s fine! I’ll get going then.” Minseok said and was about to turn around and leave before he asked once more. “Uhh...See you on Friday then?”

 

“Yeah right, on Friday! I’ll text you later!”

 

At that, Minseok smiled and nodded, turning around to take his leave.

 

Not half an hour later, when he arrived at his apartment, he got a notification with Luhan’s address and a little winking smiley. He couldn’t wipe off his smile for the rest of the day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimin is very polite here, so he usually addresses older people at the office with "hyung". I first considered to make him call Minseok "Mister Kim" but I think "hyung" sounded more natural. Also, Luhan and Minseok are almost the same age and pretty close so I just let them call each other by their names.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess this will be a longer uptdate! Thanks to everyone who has read, commented and liked my story so far. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot guys! :)

Friday couldn’t come fast enough for Minseok, but at the same time he was also dreading it a bit. Luhan and him had texted back and forth. They talked about simple things like football, their new found shared love for coffee and upcoming deadlines, but nevertheless Minseok’s heart always skipped a beat as soon as he saw the little blinking light on his display.

 

He was so obviously smitten that he shouldn’t have been surprised that Jongdae had noticed right away as soon as the both of them had hung out for one of their monthly Netflix marathons, lazying around on the couch together.

 

Jongdae had teased him about it, catching Minseok grinning at his display from ear to ear and asking the older, if he had found himself a secret admirer. Minseok had just huffed out a ‘no’, leaning away and holding his display out of sight as Jongdae poked his side, sleazy grin plastered on his face.

 

“If you say so.” He said, backing off unusually easy, as he made his way to Minseok’s fridge in his apartment.

 

Minseok was kind of expecting him to do or say more so he shouldn’t have been surprised as the other shouted “Say Luhan-hyung I said ‘Hi’ though,” from the kitchen a few moments later.

 

Minseok only huffed again, throwing a pillow at his friend, who was leaning against the kitchen door, apple in hand, wearing that sleazy grin again while taking a bite.

 

*****

 

A day later, Minseok found himself in front of a nice little apartment near the city centre. Chinese take-out and a six pack of beer in his hands he fumbled a bit before he was able to press the bell. Maybe it was also part of his nervousness, but Minseok didn’t want to admit that to himself. Nope, he was fine. _Not nervous at all._

 

As Luhan had opened the door a few moments later, his hair was tousled like he had just gotten out of bed. He was clad in sweats and a football jersey of his favourite team and he was wearing a pair of dark rimmed glasses on top of his cute button nose. He looked casual, domestic even, but nonetheless stunning as usual. Minseok was taken aback again by how beautiful Luhan looked even then, relaxed, with comfy clothes and he thought that he could easily get used to that.

 

He was smiling at Luhan as the other greeted him cheerfully as always, relieving Minseok of a few bags of Chinese take-out and leading him inside his apartment.

 

As he was about to enter Luhan’s apartment, it dawned on him that this was the first time he meet the other somewhere more private. Somewhere were it was only the two of them.

 

_Shit_.

 

At that sudden revelation, Minseok suddenly became a lot more nervous upon entering Luhan’s apartment.

 

_God, Minseok. How old are you?_ _You are not a teenager anymore,_ he thought to himself. Although, he did feel a lot like one at the moment.

 

Luhan seemed to be oblivious to Minseok’s inner turmoil, just smiling at him every now and then as he showed the other around in his apartment. It was a nice apartment, big and tastefully furnished with as lot of black and white tones. Minseok was just about to wonder how Luhan could afford such a neat apartment all by himself, as the other began to explain to him that he was sharing his apartment with Yifan.

 

Minseok was surprised at that. He hadn’t known that Luhan and Yifan were living together. He knew they were close so he supposed it did make sense, considering they were childhood friends from China and working at the Hall together, but he hadn’t expected it nonetheless.

 

He briefly wondered, if they were more than friends. They were living together after all, but he assumed that Luhan would have told him by now if there was a boyfriend waiting at home, joining them for the football game.

 

He also highly doubted that he would have missed the signs if Luhan and Yifan really were a couple. They were all frequently at the Hall together after all. It would have been inevitable to not at least catch a glimpse of their relationship, if there was any to begin with. The members of their team, _being nosy_ _as hell_ , would surely have mentioned something.

 

Though excepting towards any race, sexuality or weird likings in ice cream flavours (though the last not so much as Yixing had once admitted to them that his favourite was chocolate mint. _I mean ew_ _come on. That’s_ _disgusting._ ) Some of them couldn’t stop shutting up, even if their lives depend on it.

 

So even Yifan as their coach wouldn’t have been save from their obnoxious teasing and playfully jabbing here and there, even if they were faced with penalty loops afterwards.

 

Then again, that boyfriend Luhan might have didn’t necessarily need to be Yifan. _Or a boy at all,_ Minseok thought belatedly.

 

Shaking his head slightly he took a seat on Luhan’s sofa, as the other was getting cutlery out of the kitchen. _No_ _w_ _is not the time to assume Luhan’s sexuality_. Minseok thought to himself.

 

He asked Luhan if he needed any help but the other just waved him off, telling him that he was perfectly able to carry a few chopsticks and glasses by himself.

 

“I’m a strong, manly man after all.” The other said, laughing playfully.

 

_Ahhh there it was again_. Minseok had noticed by now that Luhan tended to emphasise how manly he was. He had thought the Chinese man was just cracking a joke the first few times, but by now Luhan had mentioned it often enough that Minseok was wondering if he was a bit hung up on this topic.

 

_Maybe it was because of his face,_ Minseok thought. The other had told him after their first private match on the football field that he himself was often mistaken for a child, or even worse, a girl. Luhan had said it with so much disbelief in his voice, eyes wide and round that Minseok couldn’t help but laugh.

 

Luhan had pouted though, shoving the other lightly before he continued.

 

“Hey, it’s not funny! I’m seriously feeling insulted! I mean have you seen my muscles? Or the dangerous scar on my lip? I’m even pretty tall and play sick football, too! How can they mistake me for a girl!?”

 

Minseok had to laugh even more at Luhan’s incredulous tone and questionable reasoning, teasing the other that he wasn’t really _that_ tall compared to Chanyeol or Yifan.

 

Luhan just huffed at that, crossing his arms before his chest.

 

“Taller than you anyway.” Was all he muttered after a while, sticking his tongue out at the other, while shoving him again, albeit this time a little bit more forcefully.

 

Minseok had just laughed, shaking his head before resuming his game with Luhan again.

 

Back to the present, Minseok was wondering about the same question Luhan had asked him on the field a few weeks ago.

 

_How could anybody mistake him for a girl?_ He thought, as the other made his way back to the living room, chopsticks and glasses in one hand and few small plates in the other.

 

Luhan _was_ kind of tall actually, at least compared to Minseok, with strong thighs and a fiery personality once his competitive side came to the surface. But he was also kind and caring, always playful on one side, but also very attentive on the other, being able to detect every slight change in Minseok’s mood right away. He was brave and strong, moving to another country all by himself, learning the language and finding a job. Luhan was many things, but feminine was none of them, that Minseok was sure of. 

 

Surely, Luhan had a delicate face, but that didn’t change anything in Minseok’s eyes. He was kind of resembling some of those flower boy idols he had seen on TV when he had watched a reality show with some of the TVXQ members and other idols, together with his sister. Not _for_ his sister, mind you, he was a huge TVXQ fan himself and he felt no shame in admitting it.

 

He had found out a few days ago, that Luhan was a fan as well, looking wide eyed at the embarrassed man as TVXQ was blasting from his phone speakers as he was called by his mom, while they had one of their Sunday night matches.

 

Luhan had obviously cringed, taking the call and explaining to his mother in hushed Chinese that he was out with a friend, or at least that’s was he assumed Luhan was saying. As he was awkwardly glancing at Minseok while talking, the other slowly began to grin before he silently mouthed the lyrics to Mirotic while simultaneously killing the choreo. Luhan’s eyes began to widen even more than Minseok’s had just a few moments before, his jaw going slack this time.

 

It wasn’t a really good look on the younger, but Minseok found it cute nonetheless. After Luhan had ended the call he had thrown himself at Minseok, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him lightly.

 

“Oh my god, you like TVXQ, too!?”

 

Minseok had been a little taken aback by the sudden closeness but smiled and nodded nonetheless.

He had slowly gotten used to Luhan’s frequent touches and skinship but it was still startling him from time to time that the other was touching him so causally when Minseok himself had a lot of problems with keeping his heart rate at bay as soon as Luhan only did so much as graze his fingers.

 

It was pathetic, really, but sometimes Minseok wanted to read more into those touches than there was. He knew that Luhan was a touchy person. It was obvious in the way he carried himself around the people he was close with, casually touching their shoulders or wrists while talking, sometimes even giving their butt a friendly pat.

 

Luhan had done all those things to Minseok, sometimes even more, casually leaning his head on Minseok’s shoulder as he was showing the other a funny video on his phone after one of their matches, or leading him by his hand whenever he wanted to show the other something interesting.

 

Minseok found himself enjoying these small touches, but he was not stupid enough to believe that he was something special. He had seen how familiar Luhan had talked to Jimin or Yifan, leaning closely together when talking, laughing unrestrained, while holding the other person by their shoulder or wrist.

 

Still, as they were lounging on the couch together, Luhan laying his head on Minseok’s lap as he was commenting on the incompetent referee, shouting profanities in Chinese, Minseok’s cheeks were increasingly growing hotter.

 

_Damn him_. Minseok was trying to stay calm, having Luhan so close to him, but he wasn’t able to calm himself down until the half-time break, when Luhan reluctantly got up to head for the bathroom.

 

Minseok took a deep breath, as soon as Luhan was out of sight. One day he was going to die of a heart attack caused by the other’s closeness.

 

He sighed. At least it was half-time now. He was just going to curl himself up in the corner of the couch, as far away from the other man as he could. Putting a bowl of chips on his lap so that Luhan couldn’t lay his head down there again, just for good measure.

 

The other returned shortly after, still loudly complaining about the referee, as he suddenly seemed to remember something.

 

“Oh! Oh! Minseok! Have you seen TVXQ’s new live performance yet!?”

 

Minseok turned around shaking his head, while peering up at Luhan.

 

Luhan beamed at him, plunking down at the other side of the couch, searching for the remote in the process. He lifted a few pillows, and the blanket laying between them, furrowing his eyebrows when he couldn’t seem to find it.

 

Suddenly, in one swift movement he was leaning over Minseok, looking up at him with his big doe-eyes. Minseok found it hard to breath somehow.

 

“Have you seen the remote somewhere?” He asked, as he began to grip Minseok’s side to lift him up a bit. Minseok squeaked at the sudden contact, squirming out of Luhan’s touch.

 

“N- No… I, uh I don’t think I have seen it. S- sorry.” Minseok stuttered.

 

Luhan looked up for a moment, still leaning over Minseok. There was moment where both of them locked eyes, staring deeply at each other. None of them said anything and for a moment Minseok thought Luhan was going to kiss him for real this time as the other’s eyes wandered down to his lips. Luhan’s face was so close that he could feel his breath ghosting over his skin and Minseok was sure that he could count the other’s eyelashes, if he tried too.

 

They stared at each other for a couple more seconds before Luhan was slowly leaning back again. Leaving Minseok still a bit shell-shocked.

 

Had Luhan just almost kissed him again or was he imagining things? The other was leaning back on his haunches now, his eyes downcast. He was fumbling with the ends of the blanket, not looking up at the other boy, scratching his neck before peeking up at Minseok, almost seeming sheepish.

 

“Must have left it in the kitchen then.” Luhan finally mumbled quietly and with that he got up heading towards the kitchen. The situation seemed a bit awkward and judging by Luhan’s behaviour the other must have felt it too.

 

After a few moments Luhan came back from the kitchen, remote in his hand, waving it at Minseok, while smilingly cautiously.

 

“Sorry if I have just sprung on you like that, you seemed pretty uncomfortable for a moment.” He said, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

 

Minseok looked at him, stunned for a moment. He really was awfully obvious, huh?

 

“Ah, no! It’s fine, really! You just uh… surprised me. That’s all.” Minseok lied. _Smooth, Minseok. Really. He’s going to look right through you._ As if he was reading his thoughts, Luhan mustered him warily.

 

“Are you sure? If I’m too forward or too touchy you can just say so, really. I know I can be a little, uh, enthusiastic at times and if it’s too much you can tell me off. It’s fine, really.” While saying that, Luhan looked at him intensely as if he was trying to emphasise his words with his eyes.

 

“We are friends after, all right?”

 

_Right. Friends._

 

“Yes, of course we are.” Minseok answered, while forcing a smile the seemed to be convincing.

 

“And it’s fine, really.” He added after a few beats, still smiling at Luhan. “I don’t mind.” Well, that was just partially true. He _did_ mind. But that rather came from Luhan not touching him more than that than from Luhan touching him at all. If Minseok was going to make a flustered fool out of himself it would at least have been nice, if Luhan would have reciprocated his feelings. But unfortunately his crush seemed pretty one-sided at the moment.

 

Luhan still mustered him for another moment, before he slowly returned his smile, nodding and seemingly letting go of the moment.

 

“Good.” He said, taking his seat next to Minseok again, although leaving a good two person distance between them this time.

 

“Are you ready to be mesmerized then? Cause you are going to cry as soon as you’ll see Changmin-hyung’s topless solo.” Winking at Minseok very exaggerated. Minseok snorted, easily falling back into his banter with Luhan again, now that the other was at a save distance.

 

“Says the person that almost drools everytime that there is stripe of skin visible of Yunho’s body.”

 

Luhan feigned mock hurt. Clutching his chest dramatically.

 

“How dare you? I am just appreciating God’s gift to men. Nothing wrong about a little appreciation for the hard work he put into that body.”

 

Minseok laughed at that, happy that the awkward tension between them was finally gone. He wasn’t sure whether Luhan knew about his sexual preferences or if he was just trying to make him comfortable again with his playful banter about hot idols, but he was thankful either way.

 

They hadn’t specifically talked about it yet, although Minseok thought it was pretty obvious with his obsession for TVXQ. Of course, not all male fans automatically needed to be gay and Minseok wasn’t even sure what Luhan’s own preferences were. Even if he couldn’t deny the he was very curious to know.

 

_Better_ _find out_ _sooner than latter, though._ He thought while stealing glances at Luhan again, as the other was immersed in the clip he had put on. Minseok observed the younger’s profile, his perfectly sculptured nose, the plum lips and his strangely endearing laugh and he knew that he was done for.

 

He really needed to be more careful, or Luhan would realise what he felt before he even had a change to establish those things. Aside from that, even if Luhan was gay, that didn’t necessarily mean he was into Minseok.

 

_You really need to sort that out soon._ He thought again, before letting go of those thoughts for the rest of the evening, joining in on Luhan’s appreciating comments on the show.

 

There was always going to be another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are still progressing slowly, but don't worry, next chapter will get a little more steamy ;)
> 
> I usually try to update every Sunday, but I'll be going on holiday for a week so I might update a day later next time.  
> Also, this chapter offically dropped on Saturday, although it is Sunday in my country already. So technically I also updated a day earlier this time.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be a bit steamier than the other ones, so i guess it will be for teen and up audiences? I am really not good at ratings though, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway now that there is at least some mild action ;)
> 
> Also I guess this is a bit angsty? But only if you squint, I suppose.
> 
> Have fun reading!

After their football evening at Luhan’s and Yifan’s apartment, Minseok found himself noticing more and more things that made himself fall for the other even harder as the days went by.

 

Was it Luhan helping an old lady to carry her groceries at the parking lot adjacent to the Hall, or him patiently helping Jimin with his studies, while having to finish tones of work himself, or just silently singing to one of the TVXQ songs while cleaning his office. Minseok was beyond smitten, and it was only getting worse by the day. The more his affection for the other man was growing, the more difficult it became to hide those feelings from him. Especially now that Minseok had to see Luhan twice a week in his office, up close and personal. What had he gotten himself into?

 

His first session had gratefully been and uneventful one, as Luhan had only checked how severe his injury was, making tests here and there and leaving Minseok mostly dressed.

 

The second session, however, had already been a bit harder on Minseok’s heart and… _other_ body parts, as well.

 

Luhan had checked his leg again, before he asked Minseok to undress, leaving him sitting on the edge of the cot in only boxers and a t-shirt. He had kneeled before Minseok then, taking his right leg into his hands, pressing into certain points on his skin to sooth the muscle. As Luhan’s hand was slowly edging higher on Minseok’s thigh, the other became increasingly more nervous. Luhan seemed to notice, looking up at Minseok as he felt the other man tensing up under his hands.

 

“Are you alright?” He asked, voice laced with concern, big doe-eyes looking up at Minseok, while he was still kneading his leg softly.

 

The sight of Luhan on his knees, looking up at Minseok with his beautiful face, while softly massaging his leg was what did it for Minseok and he suddenly felt himself growing hard under Luhan’s gentle touch and his intense gaze.

 

Minseok squirmed, shuffling away from Luhan, to hide his growing erection from the other man.

 

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._ Minseok thought. _You’re not supposed to pop a boner in the middle of the a session!_ He chided himself mentally. _Fuck._

 

That had never happened to him before.

 

Up until now, Minseok had dreamed about Luhan in more ways then one, yes. Still, he had never imagined something inappropriate during one of their sessions, keeping his thoughts tame as to not fuel his crush any further before he even had the chance to talk to Luhan. But now that he had kind of realised how deep he was in already, it was far too late. The image of Luhan on his knees had appealed more to him than he could have anticipated, burning itself into Minseok’s mind.

 

_Fuck, fuck, fuck… What am I going to do about that? He’ll notice for sure and then he’ll think I’m a creep._

 

Minseok began to panic. Before he even realised what he was doing, his mouth was already scrambling for an answer. “Ah… well y-you know m-my back muscles are kind of sore. I uh… I guess I overdid did the exercise at the gym yesterday.” He spluttered, as he took a moment to look down at the other man. Luhan was looking up at him sceptically, but said nothing.

 

“I know you told me not to overly exhaust myself, but I thought that I could at least keep my upper-body fit, as long as my leg needs to heal an uh… yeah I guess I _did_ over-did it a bit.” He mumbled. “Maybe you could check that, too. I mean, if it’s okay, you don’t need to, of course.”

 

Luhan mustered him, eyes flicking over Minseok’s face like they were searching for an answer there. It took him a few seconds before his eyes returned to Minseok’s. “Well yeah, sure. If you really want me to.” He said, looking up at Minseok calmly, slowly letting go of his leg in the process.

 

As soon as Luhan’s hand left his burning skin, Minseok let out a deep sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. At that, Luhan slowly glanced up at him again, but didn’t comment. Minseok was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice anyway. Slowly getting up, Luhan ordered Minseok to take off his shirt and lie on his stomach, to get a better access to his back, before he briefly left the room to get the heated oil.

 

“Damn.” Minseok muttered to himself. _That was close._

 

He still wasn’t on save grounds with Luhan returning to massage his back with his strong, slender fingers, pressing into his soft skin, touching and gliding with his oil slicked hands. But if Minseok was able to keep these thoughts at bay, he at least wouldn’t have to watch Luhan’s face, with his big, innocent doe-eyes, while the other massaged the skin dangerously near his crotch. He didn’t think he could survive the sight once more without spontaneously jumping the physiotherapist.

 

_Nope. Nope. Nope. Not gonna happen. That’s definitely filed under sexual harassment. He’s going to think I’m insane._

 

Minseok was not going to let that happen. Luhan was precious to him and he already felt guilty enough for getting a boner, when the other was just doing his job. What kind of pervert had he become?

 

With shame burning in his cheeks he pressed his face further into the mattress, groaning loudly.

 

 _Th_ _is_ _was so inappropriate_.

 

He felt extremely guilty and embarrassed, even if he supposed that the other hadn’t noticed anything, or at least he hoped he hadn’t. Luhan was the kind of person who would just let it slide to save his friend the embarrassment, so Minseok couldn’t be sure if the other was just trying to be polite to keep Minseok’s pride in tact. On the other hand, Luhan had looked up at him with his big eyes, full of concern, genuinely wondering if Minseok was alright.

 

He groaned again. He was _so_ mortified. How had he gotten himself into this position?

 

Just in time as he was releasing another loud whine, pressing his head into to mattress again and trashing around with his legs, Luhan returned from the storage room. He stopped for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows as he watched the other.

 

“Are you okay?” He asked, eyebrows raised, but with a playful glint in his eyes.

 

Minseok stopped abruptly. Lying motionless for a few seconds before slowly turning his head to face the other man. He just blinked at Luhan a few times before averting his head again, muttering something into the mattress.

 

“What did you say?” Luhan asked teasingly, smile evident in his words.

 

Minseok lifted his head again repeating himself again, words still muffled but albeit more audible now. “Did you see that?” He asked, turning so red that Luhan could see his ears glowing even at the distance between them.

 

“Unfortunately, yes. What were you trying to do?” He asked, laughing.

 

“Uhh… Stretching?” Minseok answered, although it was a weak attempt to save his pride.

 

“Ah, I see.” Luhan answered chuckling. It was obvious that the other man wasn’t convinced at all, but he seemed to let it slide, only shaking his head lightly before getting back to work.

 

At least, after that extremely embarrassing incident, Minseok was far too flustered to let his thoughts wander again. They carried through the rest of the session without much talking and Minseok was gradually able to relax himself a little again.

 

Half an hour later, when he was seeing Luhan off at the gates in front of the Hall, he was just glad that he wouldn’t have to visit the other’s office for the next few days.

 

 _Enough time to get_ _my_ _head straight._ He hoped, as he turned around to look at the other once more, who was smiling and waving at him, as he was about to get into his car.

 

He was so screwed.

 

*****

 

A few days later, on a Saturday afternoon he found himself on the field with Luhan again.

 

The weather was nice and exceptionally warm, considering that it was almost winter, so Luhan had suggested to hit the field again to slowly tax Minseok’s leg again. They wouldn’t stay as long as they usually did, taking into account that Minseok’s leg was still healing, so Luhan had asked him, if he wanted to visit the new Japanese cafe that had opened near the city centre.

 

Minseok assumed he was save from embarrassment there, fully clothed and far away from spending time with Luhan alone in his apartment or office, so he agreed. He hadn’t considered how much they would sweat though, the warm autumn day getting the best out of them, making both of them sweat profoundly.

 

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to get coffee like that.” Luhan said, as he was catching his breath supporting his hands on his thighs. Minseok looked back at Luhan and then at his own dishevelled state and nodded in agreement.

 

“Yeah you’re right. Wanna go back to my place first or do you want to go some other day?” Minseok asked as he wiped his brow.

 

Luhan looked at him a moment, tracing a droplet of sweat that was running down Minseok’ neck with his eyes. “Actually, I was thinking of showering here. At the Hall, I mean. They have communal showers, behind the changing rooms.”

 

Minseok gulped. _Shit_. He had totally forgotten about those. Luhan seemed to sense his discomfort and continued.

 

“That’s okay for you, right? I know it can seem a bit uncomfortable to shower at public buildings, but I can assure you that the showers are very clean here.” Luhan said, trying to convince Minseok.

 

That was not what Minseok was worried about, though. The prospect of having to shower with Luhan, however, _did_ worry him. Usually, he didn’t mind to shower with his teammates after training sessions, being used to an overly excited Baekhyun throwing soap at Jongdae or some of the other guys washing each other’s backs. It wasn’t a big deal. They were just a bunch of guys showering together, playing around at times or helping each other washing. Nothing sexual was involved in that. It was just the act of cleaning.

 

With Luhan though, Minseok suddenly had a whole lot of sexual thoughts running through his mind, making him embarrassed.

 

 _God, get your mind out of the gutter, kid._ Minseok scolded himself. It was _just_ a shower. Not any different to showering with his teammates. Still, Minseok hesitated another moment, imagining glistening water droplets running down a very naked Luhan.

 

_Noooo. Stop, stop, stop! That’s not good! Quit imagining stuff like that!_

 

Lost in his thoughts Minseok had not realised how long it had taken him to answer. He was roused out of his pondering, however, when Luhan began to speak to him again.

 

“Minseok, are you okay?” He had asked, concern laced in his voice. “You look really pale, are you dizzy or something?”

 

“What? Oh… uh, no, I’m fine. Just zoned out for a bit, sorry.” Minseok spluttered.

 

“Well if you say so… So, what do you think? Do you want to shower here, or do you want to go home?”

 

Minseok’s mind raced, trying to find an answer as to why he could not shower with Luhan. He could always just say the he was a germaphope, which wasn’t entirely a lie. But how ridiculous would that be and what would Luhan think of him? Upon looking at the other’s unassuming and cheerful expression he couldn’t help but say yes.

 

“Um, here is fine, I guess.” Minseok finally answered, a little uncertainty still laced in his voice.

 

“Cool, then let’s get our bags, I think the cafe will close in roughly an hour so we have to hurry.” And with that Luhan had turned around and walked unerringly towards the locker rooms.

 

 _Shiiiit. Shit, shit shit._ Minseok was screwed. He was _so_ screwed. There was no way in hell he would be able to just peacefully shower, while Luhan would be standing naked and wet just a few feet away from him. Upon following Luhan to the chancing rooms, Minseok mentally prepared himself. _It’s just a short shower nothing will happen. You won’t have to touch him, you won’t have to see him and you won’t even have to stand next to him. Just turn around and stay away as far as you can._

 

While Luhan was still about to pull his first article of clothing off, Minseok was already fully naked, wrapping a short towel around his waist and sprinting towards the showers. He needed to be the first. That way he could avoid to directly look at Luhan’s naked body upon entering the room. He was still very aware that Luhan would see him naked in return, but that was still better than the other way around. Besides that, Minseok was also able to freely choose his shower so he chose the one at the far end of the room to stay as far away as he could from Luhan.

 

 _So far so good_ , Minseok thought, as he was turning on the shower, hanging his towel upon one of the hooks on the wall. _You can do it_ , he cheered himself on.

 

Upon Luhan’s entering, however, Minseok realised that he had been a bit hasty with his triumph, as the other picked the shower directly besides him.

 

“Hey.” He said, as he unravelled his towel, passing Minseok on his was to the hook on the wall before turning on the shower.

 

“Hey yourself.” Minseok answered, making the mistake of looking at Luhan as the other was smiling at him. Luhan’s hair was still dry, as he had turned on the shower just moments ago, but the hot water was running down his chest already, dabbling down to his feet, while white stream covered his glistening skin.

 

 _Fuck,_ _h_ _e_ _is_ _gorgeou_ _s_ , Minseok thought. Upon realising that he was staring, he hastily averted his gaze. He needed to distract himself so he reached for the shower gel to wash his body, but as soon as Luhan heard the cap open, he directed his attention to Minseok again.

 

“Want me to was your back?” He asked, holding out his hand for Minseok to pass him the body wash.

 

“I, uh… sure!” Minseok said, panic slowly bubbling up in his chest. Why was he even agreeing to that!? He was supposed to say _no_! Stupid body, betraying his brain.

 

“But uh, let me wash your back first! It’s the least I can do after causing you so much trouble with my injury.” He said, as Luhan laughed at him, waving him off, but relenting nonetheless. Minseok needed to buy time. He needed to steel himself and he needed to get his head straight before letting Luhan touch him, even if that meant he would have to touch Luhan in return. But he could deal with that. He hoped.

 

“Okay turn around then, so I can start.” He ordered, averting his eyes as to not catch any more naked skin. He squeezed a little bit of the liquid out of the bottle, concentrating on the task at hand, while Luhan turned his back towards him.

 

Minseok took a deep breath. He could do that. He would just have to lather Luhan up. No big deal. He had done that to Baekhyun a thousand times already and it had been no big deal at all. He was just helping his buddy out, nothing more, nothing less. It would be exactly as it was with Baekhyun. Except that it absolutely wasn’t, _no_.

 

With Baekhyun he never noticed hard muscles and soft planes, pale, inviting skin and shining blond hair. _No_. With Baekhyun it was just friendly showering and occasionally playing around with the foam. Blowing bubbles or creating fake foam-beards. It was absolutely nothing compared to the way Luhan arched his back and pressed closed towards Minseok as the other was washing his shoulders. It was nothing compared to the soft, content sighs that left Luhan’s mouth as soon as Minseok found a particularly pleasant spot. And it was nothing to the way Minseok felt the heat shoot up his cheeks as soon as his hands were moving lower down Luhan’s back.

 

Minseok was so intrigued that he hadn’t even noticed how long he was already massaging Luhan’s back until the other turned his face back towards him.

 

“Thank you.” He said, content smile adorning his face. “Let me return the favour now.”

 

Minseok had been a little too entranced with the light blush covering Luhan’s cheeks and the big doe-eyes staring back at him, before he scrambled to turn around.

 

 _Okay you need to concentrate now. He is just going to touch your back. Naked. Okay, focus! He’s just going to touch your back and it won’t be any different from the sessions at his office._ Minseok mentally prepared himself.

 

 _Again, no big deal. It will be over before you know it._ Minseok thought, before he suddenly squeaked at the first contact of skin.

 

“Oh my, did I scare you?” Luhan asked. “I’m sorry.” He continued earnestly.

 

“N-no, your hands were just cold.” Minseok lied, mentally slapping himself for such a lame excuse.

 

“Oh, were they?” Luhan mused.

 

Minseok just gave a non-committal hum, far too absorbed in Luhan’s strong hands gliding across his skin already. Luhan was a far more skilled shower buddy than Minseok was, pressing all the right spots, massaging out his knots. Minseok hummed contently.

 

“That feels so good.” He thought, unaware that the words had slipped out of his mouth.

 

“I’m glad.” Luhan answered, learning dangerously close to Minseok’s ear.

 

“I can wash your hair too, you know.” He whispered, as he pressed his slender fingers into Minseok’s sweet spots.

 

“Yeah.” Minseok muttered breathless. Luhan’s touches just felt so good, he could feel his resolve slip already. “Go ahead.” Minseok mumbled, leaning his back further into Luhan’s direction, as the other began to gently rub his skull. It felt amazing, Minseok had to admit. Of course Luhan was a trained physiotherapist, so he knew exactly which spots to press, but his touches rather resembled the soft caresses of a lover than the schooled treatment of professional hand. Luhan drew lazy patterns on Minseok’s skull, lightly scrapping his nails through the soft foamy hair. Minseok sighed again slowly loosing himself completely to Luhan.

 

“Don’t stop.” He ordered and Luhan obliged easily, letting his hands sink down to Minseok’s shoulders and forward to his collar bones. Minseok hummed, leaning further back against Luhan until his shoulders where touching the other’s chest.

 

Luhan began to lightly caress his front, starting at his throat and going down slowly towards his chest. He never strayed lower than that, but Minseok was on the edge nonetheless. He couldn’t get his thoughts straight and to be honest he wasn’t even trying anymore. Minseok didn’t even realise that he was in far too deep until Luhan accidentally brushed his nipple with his hand.

 

He moaned loudly upon the touch, his voice echoing in the empty shower room. The sound made him startle, suddenly embarrassed that he had let himself go so far.

 

He hurriedly moved away from Luhan, grabbing his towel hastily and jumping out of the shower room. Fuelled by his embarrassment he didn’t even turn around to gauge Luhan’s reaction, afraid that the other would see his arousal, in case the moan hadn’t been clear enough. Minseok had really screwed up bad and he scrambled to get the hell out of that damned shower. He would deal with the consequence later, but he couldn’t face Luhan now, afraid of the disgust that he might find in the other man’s eyes. Too agitated to really care, Minseok just slipped on his shirt and jeans, body still wet and hair full of shampoo, and hurried out of the building.

 

His clothes were askew and he was freezing, too much in a hurry to put on his jacket. He could shower at home again, rinsing his hair out and warming up his body, but right now his top priority was to get away from the Hall, afraid that Luhan might still catch up to him.

 

Damn, he really didn’t know if he was able to face the other ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo I hope you enjoyed the little shower session ;) I hope the end wasn't too rushed, though! I really tried to depict Minseok's sudden need to get away as fast as he could, but I am afraid I cut the end a little bit short with that. Hope you still enjoyed it!
> 
> I am really sorry, if there still were some mistakes! I read the text 3 times, but I can't gurantee that it's completly free of misspellings.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Xiuhan day, you guys!
> 
> A few people were really curious to know Luhan's point of view and I actually didn't want for Luhan's feelings to be revealed until he confesses to Minseok, or the other way around. I changed my mind, however, so here you go. It's just a little insight, but I hope you like it anyway.

_Luhan’s PoV:_

 

Luhan sighed, banging his fist against the wall beside him.

 

“Damn it!" He muttered, dragging his other hand through his still wet hair.

 

He had gone too far. He had gone too far and he had let his hormones get the best of him.

 

Initially, he had just wanted to rile Minseok up a bit, to make him aware of Luhan as more than just a friend. After all, Luhan had seen the way Minseok had looked at him and honestly, he wasn’t stupid.

 

Minseok was staring at him. A lot. Not that Luhan was any better, but Minseok was certainly not as good at hiding it in front of him as Luhan was the other way around. Sure, Luhan knew that Minseok was a shy person and he was aware that the other grew easily flustered, but he was sure that Minseok at least had a little thing for him, turning red whenever Luhan did as much as brush his skin.

 

It was also evident in the way Minseok behaved in Luhan’s sessions. (The ones he didn't really need to begin with, Luhan was aware of that.) Shy and coy, embarrassed to be touched. Still, he was always showing up, blushing and spluttering as soon as Luhan lay a hand on him. Minseok seemed tense and uncomfortable most of the time, especially in their last session and Luhan had really hoped that the other just needed a little push in the right direction to give in to his feelings. After all, why would Minseok still come to his sessions, if he didn't enjoy being touched by him at all?

 

It was obvious that Minseok didn't really need help with his injury and still he had asked Luhan to take a look at it. The physiotherapist noticed how flustered Minseok became whenever he massaged him and if he was any bolder he certainly would have seized the opportunity already. Luhan was a professional though, so he would have never let his hand stray in one of their sessions. Here however, in the showers, Luhan had sought to test his luck and unfortunately that had failed miserably.

 

He had just wanted to tease Minseok a bit, make him crave for Luhan’s touch and to get him to want more. Maybe a nice little shower blow job or a hot make-out session, that’s what Luhan had had in mind. He had been so sure that Minseok would have been up for it. The tension had grown so thick between them that Luhan was almost sure that he was able to cut it with a knife.

 

Had he misinterpreted the signs though? Minseok had seemed into it, relaxing and succumbing to Luhan’s touch, even leaning against him, urging for him to continue and so he did. Softly caressing Minseok’s skin, never delving too deep, in case Minseok was still too uncomfortable for this, until he had purposefully brushed against the other’s nipple.

 

As far as Luhan was concerned, Minseok had enjoyed their little make out session (if you could even call it that) up until that point and even moaned the very moment Luhan’s finger had come in contact with his rosy bud.

 

As soon as that lovely sound had left his mouth, however, he had instantly withdrawn himself from Luhan and had bolted right out of the door, leaving the other standing there naked and confused. Luhan really didn’t understand what had happened. Did he make the other uncomfortable? He had been so sure that Minseok had liked it, or was he just flattering himself? … Maybe he even got so caught up in his own lust that he didn’t realise that he was forcing himself on Minseok. After all he had never asked the other, if he was okay with Luhan massaging his chest.

 

Or maybe Minseok had been feeling comfortable up until the point that Luhan had tried to get a little handsy and grew uneasy as soon as he had realised what was going on.

 

Luhan felt sick.

 

He hadn’t wanted to make Minseok upset. He felt awful just imagining that he had done something that had evoked such a strong reaction from the other.

 

A small part of him still hoped that Minseok had just been too shy, that things were progressing a little bit too fast for him. Maybe he had just been embarrassed, caught up in his own lust? Luhan didn’t know and by now all he could do is guess. He really needed to get a hold of the other and apologize. It was the least he could do after scaring him away like that. And then maybe… maybe, _if_ he was lucky, he could ask the other out on that date again. In case Minseok would even forgive him and if he was interested to begin with… Luhan wasn't so sure about that anymore.

 

He shivered. Maybe Minseok was so crept out that he never wanted to talk to Luhan again by now. After all, he really did fuck up big time.

 

All he had wanted to do, was to get closer to the other and honestly, he thought actions would convey that better than words because after all he wasn’t a big talker himself. He had hoped that he could show his interest by seducing the other, finally luring Minseok out of his shell and get him to admit his feelings.

 

Obviously, he had been wrong, though. Very, very wrong.

 

Luhan sighed. What a disaster. He really needed a good excuse for that one. Minseok was very precious to him and he definately wanted to make things work between them. Maybe there still was a chance, if Luhan could just apologize and maybe ask him out on a proper date, _if_ he was even daring enough to try anything again.

 

But first, he really needed to talk to the other. Maybe they could still be friends, if Luhan was able to get a hold of him and apologize. Hopefully.

 

Sighing again, he turned off the shower, grabbed his towel and turned to leave.

 

Time for a change of plan. If Minseok was ever going to forgive him, Luhan would try to win him over just one more time and then he was going to make it right. Maybe he could still be with Minseok, if he was able to show him his true feelings, if he was able to show that he really liked Minseok.

 

Yes, Luhan was going to be honest and tell Minseok about his feelings and if worse came to worse he could still flee back to China.

 

 *********

 

Minseok had dropped off the map of the world for a few days, or so it seemed at least. He wasn’t answering any calls or text messages, he still didn’t come to training sessions and, most importantly, he didn’t come to his physiotherapy sessions with Luhan anymore.

 

For three days straight, Minseok had been holed up in his apartment, wallowing in self-pity and embarrassment. He knew that he had to face Luhan eventually, but he just didn’t know what to say to the other.

 

_Hey, I have huge crush on you and accidentally got turned on while you were washing my back. No big deal though, right?_

 

Yeah, that was definitely not going to happen.

 

Minseok had pondered and pondered what he could possibly say to excuse his behaviour, but he couldn’t come up with anything that didn’t make him seem like a huge perv.

 

_Well done Minseok, better look for a new gym and new team right away, or better yet, move to another country._

 

In the end, Minseok’s chance had sprung up on him rather unexpectedly. Yifan had ordered him to get the replacement ball out of the storage room, as he ran into Luhan by accident. The other was just about to leave the storage room, getting one of these huge therapy balls for one of his session, when Minseok entered the room.

 

Luhan had seemed a bit startled, as Minseok was hastily entering the room and Minseok was just as startled to see the person, that he had been avoiding like the plague the past few days, standing right in front of him.

 

Heat started to creep up his face and he averted his gaze from the big, black doe-eyes that were staring back at him in surprise.

 

“Uh, h-hi.” Minseok greeted shyly, picking at the seam of his shirt.

 

“Hi.” Luhan replied curtly. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

 

“Ah, yeah well, Yifan asked me to get a replacement ball, after Chanyeol accidentally hit Jongin in the stomach with the other one, making him throw up all over it.”

 

 _Too much information, you dumbass_ , Minseok thought. _Stop babbling, idiot._

 

“Oh, well.” Was all Luhan had answered at first. “Is he alright, though?” He continued after a while.

 

“Hm? Oh, Jongin? Ah yes, he’s fine now, just a bit nauseous.” Minseok answered. “But I guess Chanyeol is getting the scolding of his lifetime right now.”

 

“Oh, is Jongin angry at him?” Luhan asked.

 

“No, no Jongin is not angry, he said it was an accident so he doesn’t really blame him. But Yifan is.” Minseok said, smiling a bit amused.

 

“I see.” Luhan answered. Reciprocating the gesture.

 

After their short conversation, there was an awkward silence extending between them. Minseok didn’t know what else to say and Luhan seemed to be at a loss of words himself. The tension was hanging thick between them, making it hard to breath in the tiny room.

 

“Well, I uh… better get going then.” Minseok said as he was about to leave the storage room. He couldn’t take another second of the uncomfortable tension enveloping the room.

 

“Wait!” Luhan suddenly exclaimed and Minseok complied right away. What was Luhan about to say to him, he wondered. _Awkward shower, hm? Care to explain?_ or _Don’t ever show up at my office anymore, you pervert._

 

But Luhan said none of that. What he _did_ say, however was what Minseok had at least expected.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

It was short and simple, but Minseok still couldn’t believe his ears.

 

“You’re what?” He asked incredulously. Had he heard wrong? _Luhan was sorry?_ Luhan had nothing to be sorry about! _He_ was sorry! For making things awkward, for having confused Luhan, for making _Luhan_ feel sorry.

 

“No, I…“, he began to say, but was interrupted by the other again.

 

“No, look Minseok. I’m really, _really_ sorry. Whatever I did to you in that shower, for making you react so strongly, I am truly sorry for.” He paused a moment before he continued.

 

“I didn’t mean to make you so uncomfortable and I didn’t mean to scare you away like that.”

 

He was about to say more, but Minseok interrupted him this time. “No, Luhan, it’s okay, really! You just startled me and I was embarrassed that I reacted so strongly because of that. That’s all there is to it, really!”

 

“Are you sure? I didn’t hurt you, or scare you, or touch you in an inappropriate way?” Luhan asked, sounding earnestly concerned and still a bit guilty, though why Minseok couldn’t understand. _He_ was the one who had screwed up big time, not Luhan. Besides, Minseok wouldn’t say that _Luhan_ had touched him in an improper way, Minseok just thought that _he_ himself had reacted in an improper way, but he was not going to say that.

 

“God, Luhan, no. Really, you didn’t harm me or anything.” Minseok assured him.

 

“But I did make you uncomfortable, right? I told you, you can just go ahead and tell me off, if I’m too touchy.” Luhan countered, frown still etched on his face.

 

“No, no it’s not that, I am just extremely…”, _horny_ , Minseok thought, “ticklish.” He continued.

 

“If you really say so…” Luhan replied. He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but there did seem to shimmer a ray of relief upon his face now.

 

“No, yes, don’t worry. There was no harm done.” Minseok assured him once again.

 

“I’m glad then.” Luhan answered truthfully, finally smiling unrestrained at Minseok.

 

They smiled at each other for a moment, enjoying each other’s company once more, after dissolving the tension that had weighed both of them down before.

 

“So uh…” Luhan continued. “Would you still like to go to that cafe with me?” He asked a bit sheepish. “I couldn’t get a hold of you the last few days and you didn’t show up to our session, so I was worried, if you were alright or if I might have upset you.”

 

“Ah, yeah, I just… I don’t know, I felt sick somehow. I think I caught a cold while running back to my car with wet hair, like a mad man.” Minseok laughed. It was supposed to be a joke, but Minseok felt the awkward tension rising again, nonetheless.

 

“Oh, is that so?” Luhan answered sheepishly.

 

“Yeah”, Minseok replied dumbly. “But I uh, would still like to go to the cafe with you, yes.” He added hastily to get back on safer grounds again.

 

“Really?” Luhan asked hopefully.

 

“Yeah, if you’ll still have me.” Minseok continued a bit ruefully, scratching his neck.

 

“Of course!” Luhan said, beaming at him. The tension once again seemed to be forgotten, so Minseok wanted to do the job properly and asked Luhan for a time and place. After all, he was not going to let that chance slide again.

 

“Oh, well, I would suggest later, after I finished work, but unfortunately I have a lot of paperwork to do afterwards.” Luhan replied. Minseoks smile fell at that, but returned as soon as Luhan continued. “But I guess on Friday would be fine.”

 

Minseok agreed, nodding along happily.

 

“I could reschedule our session, too, you know. So we can meet here and go together afterwards.”

 

Minseok grew tense at that. He had totally forgotten about the session, totally forgotten about the _touching_.

 

“Uh, sure. I suppose that’s fine by me.” Minseok agreed reluctantly.

 

“Okay, perfect!” Luhan replied enthusiastically. He seemed so genuinely happy about his reconciliation with Minseok that the other momentarily forgot about his worries, beaming back at Luhan with just as much enthusiasm. The cramped, little storage room suddenly didn't seem as stuffy as it had anymore.

 

“Good, then I uh, better bring this back to Mister Jeong, before he falls asleep at my office.” Luhan said, laughing sheepishly at the situation.

 

“Oh yeah, um sure!” Minseok answered bashfully. “I should get going too, or else I can join Chanyeol’s penalty laps or whatever other punishment, Yifan has in store for him.”

 

“Better hurry, then.” Luhan advised, laughing along with Minseok. The prospect wasn’t too scary anyway. Minseok was far too elated that he and Luhan had make amends than to care about such trivial things. He would run a hundred penalty loops as long as he could see Luhan smile unrestrained like that again.

 

*****

 

Friday came a lot faster than Minseok had expected. It had been just two days since he last saw Luhan and he was a bit nervous to have to face the man so soon again.

 

At had been quite busy around the Hall, as Christmas was just around the corner. A lot of people were still trying to lose a few pounds beforehand so that they could enjoy their holidays and the food coming along with them.

 

Luhan had been quite busy the whole day and Minseok had to wait for about twenty minutes in front of the office before he was allowed to enter.

 

A tall kid named Youngho exited the office, nodding sheepishly at Minseok as he passed him, holding his bandaged wrist that seemed to be swollen immensely, even at the distance. Minseok knew him as Johnny, one of the younger members of the basketball club that was training adjacent to them sometimes.

 

He didn’t think that it was a serious accident that needed therapy sessions or anything, but he knew that a lot of people here consulted Luhan for their sport injuries, even if they didn’t exactly have anything to do with his field of expertise. Especially at busy times like these.

 

Minseok felt a little bit guilty himself, for hogging Luhan’s precious time with his minor injury that didn’t really need therapy sessions to begin with. Man, he really was an idiot.

 

A few moments had passed and Minseok was still standing in the hallway until he could hear an impatient “Next!” from the other side of the door. He hurried inside as to not make Luhan wait any longer, already guilty of wasting Luhan’s precious time.

 

Upon entering, Minseok noticed right away that Luhan seemed a bit stress, messily arranging paperwork, while he was ruffling his hair.

 

“Close the door, please. What can I…” He began to say as he was turning around to face his next patient. “Oh! Minseok!” He explained, seemingly very happy about seeing the other.

 

“I am sorry to keep you waiting so long, today has been a mess!” He continued as he was still arranging his stuff, wiping clean the cot and taking his glasses of.

 

“Please make yourself at home. I need another moment to sort out the paperwork, or else I’ll get it all jumbled up.”

 

“Yes sure, go ahead.” Minseok answered calmly as he sat down. At least he would have another few moments to steel himself for the session. He was just about to joke that he wasn’t going to run off or anything when he remembered that he did actually ran off the last time.

 

_Yeah, better not to open up that memory again…_

 

“You can undress already, if you want to.” Luhan told him from behind his desk, as he was still filling his documents. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

 

Minseok obliged, taking off his pants and positioning himself on the mattress. This time he came prepared. He had been thinking profoundly unsexy thoughts all day and he even came in wearing two pairs of boxers today, a tight one to keep his erection flat and a wide one to conceal everything, if he was going to pop a boner again. Nothing could go wrong now.

 

He was definitely no going to have a revival of the last sessions with Luhan let alone the awfully embarrassing shower incident. Nope. Today he was prepared for any eventualities and, as long as his thoughts weren’t drifting to a naked Luhan again, he should do fine.

 

What Minseok hadn’t been prepared for, though, was Luhan accidentally throwing over his coffee in his rush, staining his work coat, as well as his shirt.

 

“Ah shit! No, no, no, no no!” Luhan chanted. “That was the only shirt I brought with me today.” He groaned, pulling the dirty shirt over his head, revealing his abs in the process.

 

 _Shit_. Minseok didn’t think he would have needed to prepare for something like this. The universe really _did_ hate him.

 

Luhan tumbled over his own feet, even more stressed now, trying to find a spare shirt to wear. Minseok would have given him his, but he came straight from university this time as it wasn’t a regular training day.

 

Minseok was mortified. There was no way in hell he was not going to think about the shower incident if Luhan would kneel in front of him like that. What had he done in his former life to deserve something like that? Overall he was a pretty decent guy and still the universe was torturing him like that.

 

Luhan was still agitated. He huffed loudly, slowly admitting defeat as he wasn’t going to find another shirt. “Wonderful.” Me muttered to himself. “Isn’t that just great?” He mumbled, finally turning around to Minseok.

 

“I’m really sorry, Minseok, but I don’t seem to find a spare shirt right now.” He said supporting his hands behind his back on the desk, learning against it slightly, as his perfect upper body was on full display for Minseok.

 

“You don’t coincidentally have a spare shirt with you today, do you?” He asked, looking at Minseok with a last small light of hope in his eyes.

 

“No, I’m sorry.” Minseok answered, shyly averting his gaze.

 

“Just my luck.” Luhan huffed at that. _Same_ , Minseok thought, but he didn’t say anything.

 

Luhan seemed to ponder for a moment, exhaling loudly before he began to speak again. “Look, I know this sounds kind of weird but would it be okay for you, if I do the session like this?”

 

Upon watching Minseok’s eyes widen at the question he continued. “I know this is awkward, but I really want to finish this session with you fast to we can finally go to that cafe.” Luhan reasoned. “I don’t really want to postpone the session again, after you didn’t get the opportunity to go to the last too and besides, I think Jimin has a spare t-shirt and he should return sometime in the next thirty minutes.” Luhan continued, trying to make the situation less awkward.

 

He realised that it was a kind of odd request to ask, but he didn’t want to delay their meeting again. Luhan had been looking forward to it all day and if he would stop the session now for him to go home and grab another shirt, they surely wouldn’t make it until closing time.

 

Minseok understood where he was coming from but that didn’t really make the situation any easier on him.

 

“Ah well, you know, we could just move the session again and I’ll help you organise your things. It’s no big deal, really. At a pinch I could even do the training exercises myself.” Minseok reasoned, as he nervously bore his fingernails into the mattress below him.

 

“Are you sure, though? I mean you specifically came to me, to watch over it, didn’t you?” Luhan questioned, looking at Minseok with furrowed eyebrows.

 

“Uh, yes, I did, but it was my fault for not showing up in the first place so it’s alright.” Minseok tried to argue.

 

“Nonsense, you were sick, that’s hardly your fault.” Luhan countered, as he lifted himself up from the desk, striding towards Minseok. “I will look at it anyway, I don’t want your health so suffer because of my poor time management today.” Luhan said, as he came to a halt just before Minseok’s legs.

 

“No!” Minseok exclaimed, sudden panic bubbling up inside him. He couldn’t face Luhan like that. “No it’s fine really, I’ll just get dressed again and...” He said as he was scrambling to get up again, trying to evade Luhan.

 

Luhan cocked his head, mustering Minseok. He seemed to be surprised by Minseok’s vehemence, but took a step back nonetheless. They starred at each other for a moment, Minseok looking anywhere but Luhan’s bare chest, and the other was just about to open his mouth when the door was opened enthusiastically.

 

“Phew… That was a work day, Boss Lu! Are you already done with…” His sentence got caught up in his throat as he was looking at the scene before him.

 

“Oh… Uh, am I interrupting or something? Should I go… maybe?” Jimin asked unsure, also trying to look anywhere but his half-naked boss.

 

“Oh Jimin, didn’t think you would be back so fast.” Luhan just asked nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t standing in the middle of a room without a shirt on and any reasonable explanation of doing so.

 

“I messed up my t-shirt with coffee and couldn’t find a spare one. Do you have one, by any chance?”

 

Still a bit confused by the situation Jimin took a moment process this piece of information, before he slowly nodded. “I got one in my locker, for dance practice. You can have it, if you want to, I won’t need it until Monday, anyway.”

 

“Thanks, man!” Luhan answered, while he nodded once. “I was just about to go with Minseok through his therapy session. Would you mind taking over, so I can get the shirt and finish the paper work.”

 

“Yes, sure.” Jimin answered. He still seemed a bit puzzled, but didn’t comment any further. If he was suspecting that Luhan and Minseok were about to get in on or something, he didn’t say anything.

 

Minseok, though insanely flustered by the whole ordeal, was up and foremost just relieved that he was able of avoiding a half-naked Luhan massaging him. He didn’t think that he would have survived that.

 

Silently thanking Jimin, he nodded at Luhan, when the physiotherapist asked him if he was alright with that decision. He had to admit that he was still a tiny bit sad that the other had to leave, but at least he was able to save himself from another awkward moment with Luhan. The man had already caused him two involuntary boners any he didn’t need any more pent up sexual frustration, thank you very much. Besides, he had already embarrassed himself in front of the other often enough now. He was honestly astonished that Luhan didn’t take him for a total creep already.

 

Watching the other again, Luhan just smiled and nodded once more, first at Minseok and then at Jimin, before he grabbed Jimin’s keys and headed out the door. As soon as the door was closed, Minseok let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

 

“Phew what a show, right? Damn, the boss really works out! Jimin said impressed, while nodding approvingly. Minseok had once again totally forgotten about him, growing flustered by the other’s statement. The young apprentice didn’t seem fazed, though.

 

“He has a cute butt, too, right?” He said winking at Minseok, making the other even more flustered. For a moment, Minseok was afraid that Jimin really expected an answer to that or that he was going to pester Minseok about what had just happened between them, but the other just laughed at Minseok’s face and left the room to get oil.

 

Once the other was out of earshot, he let out another loud exhale. One of these days this place is going to be the end of him.

 

*****

 

The session with Jimin went by without any further complications. Luhan did show up after another ten minutes again, quietly moving around the room, sorting papers and bills, entering and leaving the office several times to organise equipment and other stuff.

 

After roughly an hour, Luhan was finished around the same time Jimin had finished his session with Minseok. The other physiotherapist-to-be had left shortly after the session, leaving Minseok and Luhan alone again, while he quietly closed the door and winked at a slightly mortified Minseok.

 

Nevertheless, Minseok was far more relaxed, now that Luhan was thankfully wearing a shirt again. He sat on one of the revolving chairs in Luhan’s office, while the other one was finishing the last of his paper work, swirling around and moving his legs back and forth.

 

It was kind of nice, domestic almost, watching Luhan taking care of his paperwork, quietly accompanying him. From time to time, the other would look up and smile at Minseok, as if he was having the same thoughts Minseok had.

 

Minseok was glad that they were once again so comfortable around each other. He had been feeling awful after the shower incident, not only because he was utterly embarrassed, but also because he had been so scared of losing this comfort, this cosiness with the other.

 

He sure was glad they were back to normal, even if he had just barely averted another possible disaster with the other just an hour ago.

 

Minseok really hoped, there wouldn’t be anymore unwanted surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess it won't take much longer until Minseok's and Luhan's feelings will be openly revealed ;) Hope you liked the little insight on Luhan's feelings and I hope that helps you to understand his intentions better.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sure if I'll be able to update next week so here you go with a longer chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

After Luhan had closed off his office they had taken the subway to the little Japanese cafe. It was a lovely location, homely decorated with a warm atmosphere surrounding it and located in one of the older parts of the city. A small river was quietly trickling in front of the cafe and it was surrounded by old, traditional houses. Minseok absolutely loved it.

 

Him and Luhan had picked a pair of comfortable armchairs in the corner of the cafe, were it was more quiet and private. Minseok liked it better that way and Luhan didn’t seem to oppose. They ordered two traditional coffees for a start, as well as some delicious crème cake with matcha ice cream on top of it. It was a nice way to end the day and Minseok felt calm and relaxed chatting the evening away with Luhan.

 

By the time both of them had devoured their cakes and emptied their coffees, they where still animatedly arguing about the new strategy of Minseok’s favourite team, when Luhan suddenly had an idea and interrupted Minseok’s extensive analysis.

 

“Have you ever heard of coffee grounds reading?” He asked, grinning behind the coffee cup that he still held close to his month.

 

Minseok looked at him amused, wondering where this was going. “I have.” He said, leaning back in his armchair, smiling at Luhan wryly. “So what? Are you going to read my future out of coffee waste?” He questioned, laughing playfully.

 

Luhan joined in on that, keeping a smile on his face and shrugging his shoulders lightly. “Sure, why not? It won’t hurt to try, right?” He said, while arching an eyebrow teasingly at Minseok. “And who knows? Maybe the coffee grounds will tell me that you are the next Messi.” Luhan added, as Minseok was rolling his eyes fondly at him.

 

“Sure, if you think you know what you are doing.” Minseok said, pretending not to be entertained by the idea, although the corners of his mouth gave him away anyway.

 

“Alright.” Luhan said, leaning forward on his armchair. “Let’s see what the future has in store for you.” He announced, dramatically waving his fingers over the mug.

 

Minseok snorted at his antics, amused by the sight before him. “So tell me, oh great fortune teller, what does your eagle eye see?” Minseok asked, joining in on Luhan’s playfulness.

 

“Hm let’s see.” Luhan began, while rubbing his chin exaggeratedly, acting as if he was deep in thought. “I, the great Luhan, can see a bright future ahead of you!” He exclaimed excitedly. “I can see fame and fortune, beautiful women and lots and lots of money!” Luhan continued, waving his hands above the cup as if it rather was a crystal ball.

 

Minseok was sure that that was not how one reads out of coffee grounds, but he indulged in Luhan’s little game nonetheless. “Is that so?” He asked amused, smilingly crookedly at Luhan. “Guess I’ll become a pro league football player after all.” He added, titling his head and shrugging his shoulders.

 

“No! Not a footballer!” Luhan exclaimed, eyes widening as if those news really had just been revealed to him by the coffee grounds. “I can also see you dancing and singing, maybe even performing, I would say. Clearly, you’ll soon become a famous idol!” He announced with a mocked shocked impression.

 

Minseok burst out laughing. “Sure, that’s definitely going to be it.” He said grinning.

 

Luhan returned his smile, slowly moving away the coffee cup and leaning back in his chair again. “Hey! You never know!” He said, feigning hurt and clutching his chest exaggeratedly. “Besides, I’ve heard you sing in the locker room to TVXQ before, you really have a nice voice.” Luhan complimented honestly.

 

Minseok grew a bit flustered at that, sinking a little farther into the cushion of the armchair. “Oh… You heard that?” He muttered embarrassed.

 

“Yes, a few times when I was waiting for you behind the building. No need to be shy, though.” He added, after noticing that Minseok grew uncomfortable. “You were really good.” He said, looking directly at him, earnestly smiling at the other man.

 

“We could try it together next time, if you want to.” Luhan contiued after a moment. “I really like to sing myself, so maybe we could go to a Karaoke Bar next time.” Luhan proposed, smiling warmly.

 

Minseok found himself nodding in agreement, returning the other’s smile. He was really curious what Luhan’s singing voice would sound like. He wondered if it sounded just as warm and light as his speaking voice, or if it was richer and deeper than that. Minseok was lost in his imagination a bit, until Luhan began to speak again.

 

“Well”, the other finally concluded, “maybe reading people their future out of coffee grounds is not my forte.” He laughed, admitting his defeat lightly.

 

“Or, maybe you’re just not trying hard enough.” Minseok teased, smiling at Luhan wryly.

 

“Maybe.” The other admitted nonchalantly.

 

“Maybe _you_ should try, though.” Luhan countered without bite. “Let’s see if you are a better fortune teller than I am.” He challenged playfully, as he fixed Minseok with a look.

 

Minseok grinned at him, leaning forward to grab Luhan’s coffee mug.

 

“So, what do we have here?” He asked, eyeing to contents of Luhan’s cup carefully, joining in on Luhan’s earlier charade.

 

“Well, well, well!” He said after a few seconds of intently analysing the mug. “Looks like I found something!” Minseok exclaimed, looking at Luhan wide eyed.

 

Luhan perked up at that, leaning closer towards Minseok now. He put his elbows on the table, leaning his face into both of his hands. “What is it?” He asked interested. If Minesok hadn’t known better, he could have sworn that there was a hint of excitement hiding within his voice. He moved closer too now, leaning in conspiratorially.

 

“Come closer.” He beckoned Luhan, as if he was to reveal a huge secret. Luhan obliged, leaning in even closer, his ear almost brushing Minseok’s face now. Under any other circumstances Minseok might have grown flustered from the close proximity to the other man, but at is was now, he was entirely in control of the situation. The fact had given him great comfort and provided him with a kind of boldness he didn’t know he possessed.

 

All the while Luhan listened intently, waiting for Minseok to go on. He seemed so intrigued. Minseok had really managed to get him caught up in their little game, so he continued grinning mischievously. “I guess I can see...” He whispered, lips almost brushing Luhan’s hair. “A lot of...” he drawled “... _dirt._ ”

 

“Dirt?” Luhan asked confused, turning his head to look at Minseok. Upon noticing the other’s sly grin Luhan groaned and pushed the other back by his chest. “Oh come one, you are no fun, Minseok.” He huffed, crossing his arms and pouting a little. Minseok couldn’t help but laugh at Luhan’s cute expression and his priceless reaction to Minseok’s joke.

 

“Oh come on Lu, you take that way to seriously.” He said, still laughing.

 

“At least I was trying.” Luhan mumbled, pouting even more.

 

“Okay, okay.” Minseok tried to sooth good-heartedly. He had been a little mean to Luhan, he will admit, but it had been just too much fun to tease the Chinese man and for once not to be the one on the embarrassed side. “We could try palm reading.” Minseok proposed, half joking, half serious, leaning more towards Luhan again.

 

Luhan fixed him with a pointed look, but seemed to be gradually giving in, once he could see that Minseok was more or less serious. “Okay.” He finally said, moving his chair closer to Minseok, grabbing his hand and taking it into his own. “But I am going to read yours first. Show you how it’s done properly again.” Luhan announced, squeezing Minseok’s hand lightly. The sudden action made the Korean man feel awfully shy and once again he found himself on the receiving side of these flustering feelings.

 

He gulped the uneasiness away to let Luhan have his way though, feeling a bit guilty for going so hard on the other before. Luhan and him were now directly sitting in front of each other, knees almost touching and Minseok’s hand resting between Luhan’s hands on his legs.

 

It was a very intimate position and any stranger that might have walked by could have mistaken them for a couple, huddling together closely and enjoying each other’s company. As it was they were just friends, though, playing around a bit and Minseok’s heart fell at little at that thought.

 

He was roused out of his thoughts, as soon as Luhan began to brush his thumbs across Minseok’s hand to get a clearer look of the lines there. Luhan examined them thoroughly, tracing some of them with his thumb as he was trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

 

Completely absorbed into his work, Luhan didn’t even realise how red Minseok had turned. This situation really did feel intimate after all. _Like a real date._ _L_ _ike a real couple_ , Minseok thought intrigued.

 

Suddenly Luhan looked up with a loud “Aha!”

 

Minseok was a bit startled for a moment, almost withdrawing his hand from the other, before he curiously asked what Luhan had found.

 

“I think,” he started,”I think I found something interesting.” Luhan began, furrowing his brows in concentration.

 

“What is is?” Minseok asked again, genuinely curious now. He hoped that the other wasn’t just turning the tables on him now.

 

“A name, I think.” Luhan said after a moment.

 

“A name?” Minseok asked, fearing that Luhan might be in fact playing a trick on him now.

 

“Yes, a name.” Luhan just said, nodding earnestly.

 

“What kind of name is it?” Minseok pressed again. Luhan was awfully cryptic and Minseok really wanted to know what the other was seeing now.

 

Instead of answering though, Luhan rather went into further explanation of the lines on Minseok’s hand. “Do you see this line here?” He asked, tracing a long deep line with his index finger. Minseok shuddered a bit, but nodded nonetheless.

 

“This line”, Luhan continued,” will show the prospect of you love life”, he explained.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Seriously.” Luhan repeated genuinely. “It shows us how fulfilling your love life will be, how many lovers you will have in your life time and what the name of your soulmate is.” Luhan continued to explain, now looking directly at Minseok and tracing soft patterns on the palm of his head.

 

Minseok couldn’t look away, holding the other’s gaze watching him nervously. _Does Luhan know?_ He wondered, heart thrumming loudly in his chest. It was beating so violently that Minseok was sure that Luhan must have felt his pulse under his long, slender fingers.

 

Minseok gulped, feeling dizzy. Luhan was still looking at him directly, making him squirm, as it felt as if the other could see directly into his innermost secrets.

 

“What do you see there, then?” He finally asked timidly.

 

Luhan averted his gaze once more, looking at Minseok’s hand again as if it would really tell him Minseoks entire life story.

 

“There a few fruitless romances early on in your life.” Luhan observed. “A few heart breaks, an unrequited love,” he continued “and, finally, if we go further up the line, your soulmate.” Luhan said as he further analysed Minseok’s hand.

 

“R- really?” Minseoks asked, instantly feeling stupid for stuttering and getting his hopes up.

 

“Really.” Luhan just replied, looking at him earnestly.”

 

“Though I think…” Luhan began to say, before he stopped again as if he was pondering whether he should continue.

 

“You think...?” Minseok encouraged for Luhan to go on.

 

“I think this line here”, he said, as he was pointing at it with his index finger, while Mineok moved even closer. “This line”, Luhan started again, “looks very much like an L, don’t you think?” He asked softly, now locking eyes with Minseok again.

 

Minseok’s breath hitched and he forgot how to breath for a moment. Was Luhan implying what he thought he was? He asked himself, while looking directly into these deep, warm orbs.

 

A beat passed between them and Minseok could have sworn that Luhan was slowly moving closer, when a familiar voice suddenly chimed up behind them, making them jump apart.

 

“Well, don’t we look cosy?” Baekhyun asked smugly, eyeing them knowingly, while wiggling his eyebrows. “Hey Dae, would you look at that? The love birds of the year are out on a date.” He continued teasingly.

 

Jongdae, who had thus been hidden behind the corner appeared next to them, eyebrows shooting up to the sky when his eyes fell on the couple Baekhyun was talking about.

Minseok kind of expected him to make a sly comment about the situation as well, but Jongdae with all his teasing was still a better friend than Minseok took him for sometimes. After all, he was also a very caring and sensitive person, only wanting the best for his hyung, so he recovered fairly quickly, greeting both of them politely.

 

Yet, Minseok still felt mortified. He could feel his cheeks heating up after been caught so openly intimate with Luhan. They hadn’t even done anything, Minseok didn’t even know _if_ Luhan had really wanted to do anything, and yet it felt as if he had been caught in the act.

 

He felt a bit awkward and couldn’t really process what had even happened between them. Inconspicuously he tried to peer at Luhan to gauge his reaction, but the other was just averting his gaze, looking anywhere but Minseok. Was he reproached by what had just almost happened between them? Had it been obvious that Minseok had wanted to kiss him?

 

Luhan hadn’t seemed so opposed to the idea, at least that was what Minseok had thought.

 

His stomach suddenly dropped. Had he misread the signs? Wasn’t Luhan just caressing his hand, whispering words of soulmates into his ears and leaning closer towards Minseok to kiss him? Or had it really just been a stupid game to him? Something to pass the time? Something to get back at him, for earlier?

 

Minseok felt sick, suddenly shakily getting on his feet just as Baekhyun was about to ask if they could join them.

 

“I have to go.” Minseok interrupted him, leaning down to get his bag, hastily grabbing his plate and his empty coffee as he was about to storm out of the cafe.

 

Luhan did nothing, just keeping his head down staring blankly at the table.

 

“Really?” Baekhyun asked incredulously. “I was just going to lay out some coffee for you guys.” He said, winking at him. But Minseok was having none of it. He wanted to leave as fast as possible.

 

“No, I uh, still have a lot of work to do for my essay.” He lied, not being able to keep eye contact with any of them, making a dash for the exit.

 

All Minseok could hear before he left the cafe was Jongdae’s concerned “Hyung!” and Baekhyun’s confused mumbling about what had gotten into him.

 

Again, Minseok had ruined his chances and now he was sure that it was finally for good.

 

Two times he had already walked out on Luhan, hysterically leaving the scene, which was totally out of character for him. Not that it did matter now anyway, it had been obvious now that Luhan wasn’t interested either way.

 

*********

 

It had been almost two weeks now since the evening Minseok had last seen Luhan.

 

He had just walked out of the cafe, leaving Luhan and the others behind as he was rushing his way home. The whole evening had been an absolute disaster. Well, that wasn’t quite true, the evening had in fact been actually really nice, but the result had been an awful one.

 

Minseok hadn’t been able to face Luhan since then, yet again, after he had already extremely embarrassed himself in front of the other just a week prior to the other incident. Although, Minseok was sure that Luhan was sick of him by now anyway.

 

The first time Minseok had made a fool out of himself had just been physically, but now his emotions had shown on a much deeper and more personal level and Minseok felt much more naked than he ever did in the shower with Luhan. What Luhan had seen in the showers was just lust and the bodily reaction it had had on Minseok. Sure, that had been quite embarrassing as well, but it was just his body. That was how it worked, purposefully ore not. But in the cafe Luhan had been able to stare into Minseok’s soul, his feelings lying out open in front of the other man. That he had been sure of.

 

So Minseok’s natural reaction had been to cover up and run away, just as it had been when he had been literally naked before the other. This time though, Luhan hadn’t tried to chase him. There were no text messages, no missed calls and no Luhan running after him after he had stormed out of that cafe. He had finally screwed up completely, now that the nature of his feelings had been blatantly obvious to the other man.

 

Maybe it was better this way, after all.

 

Minseok had begun to go to training sessions with his team again, as his sessions with Luhan were falling short now. He needed to get ready for the big game on Sunday anyway and Minseok had missed too many sessions already to afford even more missed opportunities of valued play time.

 

It did him good to finally get moving and to train his legs again, especially after the injury, and it was also nice to get his thoughts away from all the negative tension with Luhan.

 

He really was glad that he could play again.

 

Nevertheless, Minseok was still a bit sulky and a bit sad about being rejected by the other. He really wanted all of his bottled up emotions to drown for at least one evening and what better way was there than drinking his sorrow away with two good friends?

 

So on Friday evening, exactly two weeks after the cafe disaster, Minseok felt himself sulking between an overly exited Jongdae and an already slightly tipsy Yixing. He didn’t want to let his feelings show so openly, but he just couldn't help himself. Heartbreak really sucked after all.

 

“What’s the sad face about, hyung?” Jongdae had asked almost half an hour later, as Yixing had just gotten up to get the third round of beers for him and Jongdae. “You look like someone ate your cat or something.” Jongdae continued, side-eyeing his best friend as he was still nipping unenthusiastically on his first beer.

 

“Hmpf.” Minseok just grunted non-committally. He didn’t really want to go and talk in detail about his awful rejection.

 

“Trouble in paradise?” Jongdae tried again, this time more slyly. The kid really wasn’t playing around, Minseok thought, as he was choking on his beer.

 

“Ah there we are.” He grinned mischievously. “So what happened, hyung? Didn’t you and your _boyfriend_ seem just fine, smooching in the dark corner of that cafe?” At that Minseok broke into a full on coughing fit, glaring at a laughing Jongdae while he was trying to regain his composure.

 

“We didn’t smooch! And he’s not my boyfriend.” Minseok just mumbled sulkily, wiping his mouth with a napkin as he was avoiding the other’s eyes at any cost.

 

“He’s not?” Jongdae asked, truthfully surprised.

 

“No, he’s not and if you don’t mind I would really like to talk about something else now, Jongdae.” Minseok huffed, turning toward his beer again.

 

“Wow, I really thought you were already getting it on.” Jongdae said, still a bit astonished. “Didn’t you really like him? Why are you still dancing around each other? I mean it’s obvious that you are interested, so what’s the problem?”

 

Minseok really didn’t want to talk in detail about what exactly his problem was, but he knew that he needed to give Jongdae at least _something_ to let go of the topic, so he reluctantly mumbled that Luhan wasn’t interested.

 

“What did you say?” Jongdae asked again, not being able to understand Minseok’s inaudible muttering.

 

“I said, _he isn’t interested!_ ” Minseok repeated again, now with a lot more vehemence. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk about it and he was really tired of Jongdae trying to get to him.

 

“And just so you know, I would very much appreciate it if we could stop talking about that now. I am trying to get over him right now.”

 

“Are you serious?” Jongdae asked bewildered. “Have you not seen the way he looks, no _stares_ , at you!? It’s borderline creepy actually and I seriously wonder what’s wrong with your eyes, if you haven’t noticed that yourself yet.”

 

“Stop joking!” Minseok demanded angrily. Jongdae really was getting to him and he hated that the younger always knew exactly what buttons to press to rile Minseok up. “You have no idea what your talking about.”

 

“What are we talking about?” Yixing asked merrily as he rejoined the table. “Is Jongdae trying to convince you that we live in the Matrix again?” Yixing continued laughing.

 

“Well first of all, no, and second, it’s a reasonable theory!” Jongdae countered, as Yixing snickered at him good-heartedly.

 

“And just so you now, we were just talking about your crush on the yoga teacher.” Jongdae taunted, while he took his beer from the other’s hands.

 

“Ah, so you were talking about Li Mei?” Yixing asked happily, as his face lit up. His crush on the yoga teacher was an open secret that almost everyone in the team knew about, mostly because the Chinese man had no shame in admitting to anyone who dared to asked about it. Yixing didn’t see the point in denying it anyway so he proudly and openly shared his feelings with the world.

 

“Have you seen how her hair reflects the sunlight?” Yixing asked dreamily. “Or how the corners of her mouth curl up cutely whenever she’s happy? She is just so amazing!” Yixing continued in awe.

 

He really did seem pretty smitten by the Yoga teacher and on any other day Minseok would have found it cute, but today it was just souring his mood. It reminded him of his own crush and his very own memories of shiny hair and cute smiles that accompanied it. He sighed heavily. Just thinking about it made him want to cry in the corner and curl up into a ball.

 

Yixing was still going on in great detail about how gorgeous Li Mei was, as Minseok’s loud sigh made him stop abruptly.

 

“Are you alright?” The Chinese man asked concerned, setting his beer on the table. Minseok just eyed him, but said nothing as he was taking another sip of his beer again. He had just gotten through this conversation with Jongdae, he was not ready to face the same topic yet again.

 

Just as he was about to answer with a resigned ‘just peachy’, Yixing’s eyes lit up.

 

“You are lovesick!” He exclaimed, loud enough that the whole bar even might have heard him.

 

“Hush! Say that a little louder, will you?!” Minseok hissed.

 

“Ahh so I’m right.” Yixing said smugly. “Who is it?” He added after a moment, leaning in closer and looking at Minseok with curious eyes.

 

Minseok just groaned, letting his head sink on the bar table.

 

“That’s none of your business.” He mumbled sulkily.

 

“Let me guess then.” Yixing continued undisturbed, while he was eyeing Jongdae for any helpful information. The other was raising his arms in fake innocence however, grinning conspiratorially.

 

“Is it one of the cheerleaders?” Yixing pondered. “Hmm unlikely, I have never seen you talk to any of them… A girl from university?… Also unlikely. Maybe someone from the exhibition match? You seemed to get along fairly well with Amber. Then again...” Yixing rambled on.

 

Minseok had said it then, even before Yixing had finished his rambling. Quiet but resolute nonetheless.

 

“It’s not a girl, Xing.”

 

Yixing stopped, looking at him just a short moment before asking, more serious now but with soft voice, “Who is it then?”

 

Minseok whined loudly, taking a deep breath which he released again right away. It was futile to pretend any longer, at least in front of his friends. With a heavy heart he lifted his, peeking up miserable at the other before he answered his friend with glowing cheeks.

 

“It’s Luhan.” He mumbled, barely audible.

 

Silence stretched out for a moment before Yixing continued to speak again.

 

“Of course it is!” He exclaimed, slapping one of his hands lightly against his own head. “Why didn’t I notice this sooner?” He asked, breathing out a soft laugh.

 

Upon Minseok’s still sulky expression he furrowed his eyebrows and mustered the other before he began to speak again.

 

“That’s good though, isn’t it? The guy is head over heels for you!” Yixing claimed enthusiastically.

 

“See! I told you so!” Jongdae added unhelpfully from the other side.

 

“Shut up.” Minseok mumbled again, as he released another loud groan. “Both of you have no clue what they are talking about!”

 

“Uh excuse me, but how can you not have realised how the guy is lusting after you!?” Jongdae threw in again. “Tell him, Yixing! Tell him how much Luhan-hyung talks about him whenever one of us is at his office!” Jongdae demanded, looking at his friend for confirmation.

 

Minseok did as well, turning his head to the other man who was just nodding along to everything Jongdae had said. _That couldn't be_ …, Minseok thought. Luhan was talking about him? This had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

 

His train of thoughts was disrupted as Jongdae began to speak again, making him slightly shake his head to focus on his friend's words again.

 

“Or tell him about all the times he has come early to _pick up Yifan_ ”, Jongdae emphasised with air quotes, “just to be staring at Minseok again.”

 

Minseok turned to Yixing again, eyes widened in disbelief. “Is that true?” He asked the other man and Yixing just nodded enthusiastically in conformation.

 

“But...” He began and then stopped at a loss of words. “But how…? How… I mean, are you even sure?” Minseok finally asked, confusion evident on his face.

 

“Yes!” Yixing and Jongdae answered in union. “It’s obvious, hyung. Luhan-hyung likes you!” Yixing confirmed again.

 

“But Luhan… does he really?” Minseok mumbled to himself, lost in thoughts. Was Luhan really that interested in him? Could it really be?

 

“Hyung, he’s talking about you none stop, really.” Yixing said again. “It’s almost sickening.” Jongdae added after a moment.

 

“Did you really not notice though?” Jongdae asked, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder.

 

Minseok just shook his head.

 

“No I really didn’t. I thought I was so obvious and all this time... All this time he liked me back you say?” Minseok asked incrdeously.

 

Both guys nodded in union again, looking at Minseok sympathetically.

 

“I mean come on… He was just about to kiss you when we entered that cafe. How could you not notice?” Jongdae asked, lifting and eyebrow at Minseok.

 

“I don’t know!” Minseok whined exasperatedly, letting his head his the surface of the table again. “I guess I thought I was just projecting...” He mumbled embarrassed.

 

“Oh hyung...” Jongdae just mumbled, patting his shoulder softly as Minseok let out a long, drawn out sigh. He remained in that position for a moment before he looked at his to friend again.

 

“What am I going to do about that now. I screwed up big time. Twice already.” He said, looking absent-mindedly into the distance.

 

“Well, tell him how you feel, of course.” Jongdae provided. _If it was only this easy_ , Minseok thought, grumbling to himself.

 

“And how do you think I should do that?” He asked, eyeing his friends.

 

“You just tell him.” Yixing echoed again, shrugging his shoulders.

 

Minseok eyed them wryly again. “And how do you suppose I should do that?”

 

“Simple,” Jongdae began, “you just walk up to him and confess.”

 

_Tsk. Yeah... easy._ Minseok thought, pursing his lips.

 

“No running away, no beating around the bush and no talking in riddles, you got that?” Jongdae asked, looking at his friend intently.

 

“I guess...” Minseok muttered unconvincingly. “But what do I tell him _exactly_? Hey man, I am painfully obvious in love with you? Let’s roll?”

 

“For example.” Yixing answered instead, shrugging his shoulders while throwing a look at Jongdae. The other shrugged as well nodding along as both of them were looking at Minseok again.

 

Minseok just groaned exasperatedly. _What amazing advise_ , he thought, shaking his head at his two friends.

 

“Just say whatever.” Jongdae tried again. “Luhan will say yes anyway so I don’t think it really matters.” He continued, shrugging once more.

 

“That’s true, or you could just walk up to him naked. That would make your point clear.” Yixing added seriously, while Jongdae was laughing loudly at the suggestion.

 

Minseok, groaned again, burying his face in his hands, as he felt it growing red at the suggestion. Thank God the other two didn’t know about his shower accident with Luhan. He would have certainly died out of embarrassment.

 

“You are not helping.” He mumbled, slowly regaining a healthier colour again.

 

“Honestly hyung, it’s not that hard.” Jongdae said, smile still evident on his face. “Just ask him out to go somewhere again and tell him. It’s not like it’s the first time the two of you hang out.” He pointed out, as he was taking a sip of his beer.

 

“Besides, you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s obvious that he likes you as well and if you are going to let him get away just because you are too much of a sissy to confess that’s really your own fault.” Jongdae told him earnestly as Yixing was nodding along.

 

“And you wouldn’t want that, right? Not when you are this close to finally get the guy of your dreams, or am I wrong? That’s not the ambitious, self-aware hyung I know.” Jongdae declared, before he was finally gulping down the rest of his beer, loudly putting down his glass once it was empty.

 

“So what do you say, hyung? Are you going to go for it?” Yixing asked, as Minseok was finally lifting his hands from his face again.

 

“I guess.” Minseok just muttered again, although he was slowly surrendering to the idea.

 

His friends were right. If he really wanted to feel comfortable again he needed to talk to Luhan to finally let the awkwardness dissipate between them for good. He wanted to be with Luhan, that much was clear, and he wanted Luhan to be his boyfriend.

 

He finally made his resolution. If he wanted Luhan to be his, he needed to to something about it. He needed to stop stalling and running away and up and foremost he eventually needed to be honest about his feelings and tell the other man how much he meant to him.

 

What had he got to lose? Things couldn't get more awkward than this and Minseok doubted that they could only stay friend now anyway, at least not from his side. He was far too deep in for that already and besides, by the looks of it, it did not seem as if Luhan was too opposed to the idea himself. At least if what his friends had just told him was true and he doubted that they would lie to him about something like that.

 

His mind was set. He was going to make Luhan his boyfriend.

 

With that he was finally lifting his beer to toast with the others, sulkiness replaced by determination.

 

He was going to wait until the big game on Sunday and then he was going to make Luhan his, of that he was sure now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that this is the last time that Minseok is being problematic :D


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I managed to get through my university stuff fairly well this week, (even better than I actually expected) so as celebration of the day I'll reward you with an extra long, hopefully satisfying chapter :D Hope you enjoy! Though again, I can't promise to update on time next weekend because I have to finish my bachelor's thesis over the next few weeks and start my summer job as well :(

They won. Minseok was on cloud nine. He had shot one of two winning goals in the last few minutes of the game, earning him a celebratory throw and some rather rough pats on the back by his team mates.

 

There was a lot of shouting and loud cheers as the team made their way back to the changing rooms. Someone, most likely Chanyeol, was shouting something about free drinks on the coach after weeks of torturous training sessions and verbal abuse for being a shitty goalie.

 

Minseok smiled to himself. He was not opposed to the idea of free drinks, especially after those past weeks, but before he could thoroughly enjoy himself, he first needed to do something else or rather to see someone else. Smile still playing on his lips he quickly changed to look for the one person he was dying to share their win with. Grabbing his stuff he bolted for the door only to be stopped by Jongdae who raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

 

“Aren’t you going to celebrate with the rest of the team?” Minseok knew he was caught when he just needed a tad too long to answer, causing Jongdae’s confused look to morph into a knowing smirk.

 

“Oh I see how it is then. Looking to get a plus one for the celebration party, are we? That person might not coincidentally be the team’s official physiotherapist, right?” Minseok just scoffed, face turning red while mumbling something about Jongdae being a noisy little shit. Trying to make his way through the door, past Jongdae, he could only hear the other laughing while shouting “Maybe you should have taken a shower first, like the rest of us did. Wouldn’t want to leave a bad impression asking out your _lover boy_ for the first time.”

 

In favour of finally leaving the stuffy chancing room and not letting himself be teased any further, Minseok chose to ignore the deliberately, obnoxiously stressed ‘lover boy’ and headed to Luhan’s office.

 

Finally on his way to Luhan’s little corner in their Wellness and Fitness department, Minseok felt himself become a little less eager in his steps and a little more red in the face the closer he got to the physiotherapist. Upon standing in front of Luhan’s office, blush adorning his cheeks and heart beating in his chest, he briefly considered Jongdae’s words and regretted his overeagerness of coming here. Maybe he really should have taken a shower first, sweat of nervousness and the ninety minutes game still clinging to him.

 

He sighed. Maybe he had rushed his decision of coming here, but the euphoria and the adrenaline of the game had done magic to his self-esteem. Still it was no use, he was already here after all and he wouldn’t back down now. Not after all that had happened. He owned Luhan at least that.

 

So with one last deep breath he finally overcame his hesitation and softly knocked on Luhan’s door.

 

A small hum was heard from the other side of the door and a few seconds later the honey blonde locks of his favourite physiotherapist were peeking out of his office. “Sorry, but we are...” Luhan began to stay but stopped himself, surprised to see who was standing in front of him.

 

“Minseok? What are you doin-”

 

“Luhan! Do you want to go and have drinks with me tonight?” Minseok interrupted Luhan before he could even finish his sentence.

 

There was a brief moment of silence, only filled by Luhan’s confused and astnoished look and Minseok’s shallow breathing. Upon realising how forward that sounded, Minseok turned even redder and tried to redeem himself by stuttering out:

 

“Uh...We uhhh... we won! The game I mean...and we are having a celebration party tonight so I was wondering if you would like to come with me, to the party that is.”

 

Minseok knew perfectly well that it was kind of unusual for a team physiotherapist to be invited to these kinds of parties and Luhan seemed to be aware of that as well. He creased his eyebrows as he considered Minseok’s proposal just a bit too long before the smaller man hastily added:

 

“Being a big help to all of us during the whole season we just thought you should be there too, you know? Free drinks on the coach and all.”

 

_Smooth Minseok, way to go_ , he thought to himself but relaxed a bit after seeing Luhan’s confused expression slowly melt into a cautious smile.

 

“Well, uh, sure… Just text me where and when and I’ll be there.” He sounded a bit unsure but still seemed to be pleasantly surprised by Minseok’s invitation. _Of course he would be_ … Minseok thought to himself. _After all I randomly showed up at his door step after ghosting him again. Twice already._

 

Minseok still felt awfully guilty for confusing Luhan and he really wanted to make things right this time. Besides, he doubted that there would be another chance if he’d screw this one up again.

 

So with that Minseok nodded and smiled enthusiastically at Luhan to chase away any lingering doubt and confusion.

 

“Great! I’d really like you to come!” He said honestly, even if his ears were turning red by now as well. “See you later then!” He added, before he took his leave, turning around again after a few feet to give the man standing in the door on last small wave and an earnest, toothy smile.

 

_*****_

 

Minseok was beyond nervous. He had stood thirty minutes in front of his closet panicking and pondering what he should wear only to settle for an oversized hoodie and pair of dark jeans. He felt a bit underdressed, wanting to impress the physiotherapist, which was ridiculous considering the various state of undress the man had already seen him in at his almost weekly sessions.

 

He was a bit thankful for his lack of fashionable clothes though once he arrived at the bar and saw some of the boys still in their training suits. Jongdae wouldn’t have let him live it down if he did arrive at the Pub all dolled up. He still eyed him with a teasing smile once he set his eyes on Minseok.

 

“So you did finally shower? Getting all dressed up for your date?”

 

“It’s not a date, Jongdae. I only asked Luhan to come because he has been such a great help for the team and he played a big part in achieving our goal today.”

 

“Sure, whatever you say Min. I wish you good luck though.” He said, winking at the other.

 

And with that Jongdae wandered off to join in on the fuss caused by the loud shouts of cheering near the bar where a currently half naked Chanyeol was sipping Vodka out of a funnel held by an equally loud and obnoxious Baekhyun, both of them standing on the counter of the bar. Minseok just stood there and shook his head. What had he done in his previous life to be cursed with a set of overly curious, loud and annoying teammates?

 

“Wow, are they always like this together?”

 

He didn’t need to turn around to know who this lovely voice belonged to.

 

“Luhan! You came!” Minseok said, only belatedly realising how stupid that sounded.

 

“Of course, you invited me after all.” He said with a small smile playing on his lips.

 

Minseok wanted to say something more, but before he could there was a loud thud, followed by thunderous laughing, shaking the whole Pub. Chanyeol had lost his balance on the counter top and was now sitting on the floor, sheepishly grinning and rubbing his head. Minseok heard a laugh behind him.

 

“Hopefully he won’t hurt himself or I will have a lot more work to do in the next few months.”

 

Minseok laughed at that, too, while taking in Luhan’s appearance for the first time this evening. He hadn’t really had the time to look at the other yet since he had arrived so the man’s stunning looks took him a bit by surprise. Luhan was wearing a dark blue button-down shirt with rolled up sleeves.. The first two buttons were opened, which gave him a casual touch. He smiled down at Minseok with his shining doe-eyes and bright smile and Minseok needed a moment to catch himself before he hurriedly asked Luhan if he wanted something to drink.

 

The evening was going well so far. After getting over his initial nervousness Minseok had warmed up considerably after the first two beers. He was currently squished between Luhan and Jongdae, the latter constantly whining about losing the third time in a row to a kid named Zitao who was coincidentally Yifan’s younger brother and the newest addition to the team.

 

Minseok snickered to himself as Luhan leaned over to him and whispered with an amused glint in his eyes. “I wonder how long it will take for Yifan to come over and condemn Jongdae to do extra push-ups after repeatedly accusing his little brother of cheating.”

 

Minseok had to laugh even more at that. Luhan was right, it couldn’t take much longer for Yifan to be sick of Jongdae’s constant whining, especially if his precious baby brother was involved. Minseok sometimes forgot how close Luhan and his fellow Chinese friend were, so close they even lived together.

 

Suddenly he felt heat prickle in his neck and a light sting of jealousy in his gut when his thoughts came back to Yifan. Maybe it was the uncertainty of their relationship that was making him insecure or maybe it was just the alcohol speaking, but before he could stop himself he turned over to Luhan and found himself asking.

 

“The two of you are close, right? Yifan and you.”

 

Shortly surprised, Luhan just looked at him for a brief moment before he smiled and nodded.

 

“Yes, I have almost known him all my life. Our parents were friends, so Yifan and I spent a lot of time together being same aged friends and all. We never went to the same school though, until high school.” Luhan answered earnestly. He smiled a bit at the memory, lost in his thoughts. “After that we became even closer, although our ways separated when I left the country to study in Korea.”

 

“Why Korea though?” Minseok found himself asking.

 

“Hm I don’t know. I guess I just liked the culture and I really enjoy Korean pop music.” Luhan smiled sheepishly. “I also didn’t get along exactly well with my parents then. They weren’t really fond of me studying such an 'unremarkable’ profession. _Save such kind of jobs for people with a lower status, Luhan,_ they told me then. _Become a doctor, a lawyer or go into financing like your uncle has._ ” Luhan mocked, followed by a heavy sigh.

 

The topic still seemed to ring bad memories of exhaustingly long discussions, even after he already finished his studies, working as a full time physiotherapist at the Hall.

 

“Still”, Luhan continued, “I didn’t waver. I was set on becoming a physiotherapist because that’s what _I_ really wanted to do.” He said, underlining his words with a hand-gesture towards his chest.

 

“Eventually, they accepted my decision or more like begrudgingly acknowledged it. They still wish for me to change my profession into something more… profitable. But there is not much they can do, as I live in another country and earn my own money.” He seemed very proud of that, even smug one could say, grinning self-satisfied.

 

Minseok had listened intently. He had known that Luhan came from a wealthy background just like Yifan had, but he hadn’t known of Luhan’s struggles with his family up to now. He briefly wondered if a young, stubborn Luhan had a lot of these fiery arguments with his snobby parents, arguing his way out of anything that didn’t sit right with him. Luhan must have been a rebel, Minseok thought. Strong-minded and relentlessly fighting for the things he wanted.

 

Minseok smiled a little bit at that thought. He wished he would have known Luhan by then already. He was a little bit jealous of Yifan for being familiar with this part of Luhan’s life. As if on cue Luhan continued.

 

“And that’s were we come back to Yifan again. When I came to Korea I didn’t have a lot of money, to be honest. I lived of my savings for a while but I knew I couldn’t continue like that forever. So you can imagine how relived I was once Yifan had offered me to work at the Training Hall.” He explained, while taking a short sip of his beer.

 

“I was still in my second semester then, so it took a lot of convincing to hire me as part time physiotherapist. Yifan had promised the owner that I would start with smaller chores like cleaning and keeping the facility, as well as the gym equipment in good condition.”

 

Luhan sighed. “It was more the work of a janitor really, but I was happy with anything at that point as long as I could make my own money. The longer I studied the more tasks I was allowed to do. Junmyeon, the trainer of the Prancing Pumas, helped me a lot with that, too.”

 

Minseok was surprised at that. He hadn’t known that the trainer of the rivalling girls club and the physiotherapist even knew each other so well.

 

Upon Minseok’s questioning face he explained.

 

“Junmyeon and Yifan are pretty close. Before Junmyeon became a coach, he was also working as a physiotherapist and prior to that was a professional football player.” That was new as well.

 

“He had to quit though, after a nasty fall resulting in a cruciate rupture. Yifan had asked him to train me and to take me a little bit under his wing as he was still working full-time at the Hall at that time.”

 

Luhan shorty paused to take a sip of his beer again.

 

“It was already known back then that he would quit as soon as I was fully trained and ready to take his place. That was the main reason why the owner agreed to accept me in the first place, I think. I was really lucky back then and I owe a lot to Yifan and Junmyeon. I am still thankful for that.”

 

Minseok was stunned to say at least. All these new information were messing with his already intoxicated head. It was a lot to take in. Minseok had always thought he had known Luhan quite well up until now, at least considering the fact that he was the one the Chinese man was seeing the most through their weekly sessions and meet-ups, aside from Yifan of course.

 

Intoxication and jealousy didn’t mix well with him so he briefly wondered who else Luhan was close with that he didn’t know about. He was most likely also close to Zitao, if the fact that he was Yifan’s brother and the way he affectionately greeted the younger with the nickname ‘Taozi’ earlier on were any indications.

 

Maybe he was close to Yixing too then? Being Chinese brothers and all, Luhan must feel a sense of companionship towards the other man. He did after all ask the other man to play football with him before their own weekly training sessions even were a thing. 

 

Same goes for Baekhyun. Luhan had met up with the guy occasionally, even if that seemed to have stopped as soon as Minseok was his regular partner. Minseok felt himself become a little sour the more he thought about it. 

 

Luhan suddenly seemed to be close to everybody. He even had seen him growing closer to Sehun, the youngest member of the team, Minseok remembered. The boy always trotting after the physiotherapist like a lost puppy whenever he was condemned to clean the facility, including Luhan’s office, after disrespecting his hyungs again or picking a fight with Tao.

 

Minseok was brooding. He began to pout, coming to the conclusion that he might not be as close to Luhan as he would like to be. Taking a big gulp of his beer he braced himself and whined. He really should stop drinking, or else he was prone to say something stupid. His brain was already producing to most stupid kind of jealous thoughts. So he really couldn't help asking.

 

“Why don’t _I_ get the chance to know you like that? You seem so close with everybody, suddenly having deep secrets and shared pasts with everyone, being close brothers with the Chinese guys and even having your own personal puppy trail after you whenever there is a chance to be close to you. It’s not fair!”

 

Minseok was unreasonable and whiny. He knew that, but he still couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out.

 

“Don’t you like spending time with me as well?”

 

Luhan just laughed amused at Minseok’s sudden small outburst, causing the other man to pout even more.

 

“You are cute.” He said, amused smile still playing on his lips. “I didn’t even know you were _that_ interested in me.”

 

Minseok felt himself growing red at that. Cursing his fair complexion and that damned alcohol.

 

“At least I didn’t thought you were interested in me any further than our professional relationship goes. You are kind of hard to read sometimes, you know that, Minseok?”

 

Minseok stopped at that. He always thought that he had been painfully obvious about his feelings, although he did run away several times, but that only was because of his awkwardness. Maybe his friends had been right. Minseok did confuse Luhan.

 

Before he could find any words to retort, Luhan continued.

 

“You always seem a bit reserved when it comes to me, Minseok. Whenever you come to my office or meet me on the field you are painfully apprehensive of me touching you.” So Luhan had noticed after all. Even if he did not know how to interpret Minseok’s behaviour.

 

“Whether it be lightly touching your shoulder while taking, or touching you professionally in our weekly sessions, you always seem to shy away from my touch. Hell, you sometimes even flinch, although I am only barely touching you.” Luhan continued, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

 

“I always get the feeling that you feel uncomfortable when you are around me, so I tried to tone it down as far as I could, only touching you when absolutely necessary.”

 

Luhan adverted his eyes breifly before directly looking at Minseok again.

 

“I mean… at first I tried to touch you more because I thought you were just shy and that you would eventually come around. You did seem to like showering with me, even though you ran away afterwards.”

 

Minseok grew awfully red at that. It was true. Luhan was absolutely right, he _did_ like showering with the other and being touched like that.

 

“You seemed a bit reluctant to talk to me after that and I was afraid of what you might think about me. Maybe I had been too forward, so after we had talked it out I tried to be a little smoother and more direct with my words.” He averted his eyes for a moment again, as if he was sorting out his thoughts. He kept his eyes downcast as he continued.

 

“For a moment, I actually thought we were on the same page and I even almost kissed you...” He mumbled, getting quieter towards the end.

 

Minseok held his breath. _This is finally it_ , he thought.

 

“But then you ran away _again_ , cancelling our weekly sessions at the Hall and on the field, walking the other way as soon as you spotted me in one of the corridors. I was really confused by that and a bit hurt to be honest, Minseok.”

 

Minseok felt a bit sick. He had never wanted to hurt Luhan.

 

“And then suddenly you were standing in front of my office today, inviting me to come to the party with you.” Luhan said, now lifting his gaze to look at Minseok again.

 

He took a deep breath, mustering Minseok with furrowed eyebrows as he leaned back in his chair. Luhan seemed to be a bit agitated by this whole conversation. Riling himself up the more he talked about it.

 

“To say I was surprised was an understatement and I even briefly considered to just brush you off and close the door in you face.” He continued, crossing his arms in front of his chest. _Ouch, that hurt_ , Minseok thought. He knew he would have deserved that, but he sure was lucky that Luhan hadn't shut the door in his face.

 

“But then you looked at me with these genuine and hopeful big eyes and I just couldn’t say no to you. And now you get all pouty and jealous asking me about the other team members and I can’t quite comprehend what goes on inside your mind Kim Minseok.” Luhan exhaled.

 

“How do you feel about me?”

 

It was a short question but it threw Minseok off nonetheless.

 

Minseok had been awfully confused the last couple of weeks, fighting off these feelings that had blossomed inside of him turning from a simple crush to a deeper, more consuming emotion. He hadn’t even considered how Luhan must have felt because of his hot and cold behaviour. Guilt contorting his face, Minseok furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at Luhan.

 

“I’m sorry Lu… I didn’t mean to confuse you like that.” He admitted honestly, but Luhan just sighed heavily. He had every right to be upset.

 

Luhan had been honest with his feelings so now it was on Minseok to make the next move.

 

With one big gulp he leaned forward and grabbed the other man’s wrist. “I will explain it to you, I promise. And I’ll be nothing but upfront and honest this time.” Luhan looked surprised at that, glancing down at their connected hands with big eyes.

 

“Let’s talk about this in private. I’ll explain everything to you, that is if you still want to.” He said sheepishly.

 

Luhan just looked at him for a moment before he nodded once, letting Minseok lead him out of the bar under the curious eyes of his teammates.

 

*****

 

Minseok had led Luhan outside into the cold air of the night, only briefly stopping to get their jackets and to wave a confused Yifan and a smug looking Jongdae goodbye. He had to talk to Luhan to make things right again and he was determined to do so, even if that meant to spill his guts about all of his feelings once and for all.

 

But Luhan had done the same for him, wanting to improve their current situation so the least Minseok could do was to be honest with him.

 

Minseok dragged him across the street, hand still connected to the other’s wrist as he led him a few blocks away towards his flat. It wasn’t a long walk, only ten minutes, fifteen at most, but for Minseok it felt like an eternity. They didn’t talk throughout the whole way towards Minseok’s home. The only sounds that were occasionally heard were their shallow breaths, leaving hot puffs of air in the cold winter air.

 

Minseok hadn’t even told Luhan where they were going and still the other was following him obediently. Only when they arrived in front of Minseok’s building, he briefly wondered what Luhan might think about been dragged along right inside of Minseok’s flat and he grew a bit embarrassed.

 

“So this is my flat and uh… I really want you to come with me so we can talk about things.” It was a bit late for explanations now and Minseok knew he sounded a bit stupid, but Luhan only lifted one eyebrow and smiled teasingly at him.

 

That kind of relieved a bit of the tension that had settled inside of Minseok, though it came back full force once Luhan had entered Minseok’s room and sat down adjacent of him on his bed.

 

He looked up at Minseok intently, curious of what the other might finally say. Though when Minseok couldn't seem to start, standing awkwardly in the other corner of the room, growing awfully red, Luhan sighed and began to speak.

 

“You know,” he started, “sometime I really think you like me too, sending me those looks, blushing madly and fiddling around as awkwardly as you are doing now.

 

Minseok stopped abruptly, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights.

 

“Sometimes, you are so comfortable with me. And then again yo suddenly draw away, leave me hanging for days or even weeks with no message, no explanation, no anything.” Looking up at Minseok with a stern look.

 

“I would really like to see you try to make sense out of that, because I obviously can't.” He finally concluded, looking up at Minseok expectantly. His look left no doubt that whatever they might could have would be over if Minseok was drawing away again now.

 

He seem agitated and Minseok briefly wondered how long Luhan had carried these thoughts around with him already.

 

“I'm sorry...” Was all he could say at first. He didn't really know how to explain his behaviour himself.

 

Of course he liked Luhan. He liked him more than anything, even more than coffee or football, if he was perfectly honest and Luhan should know that. Suddenly a new wave of guilt wash over him. He felt so awful for constantly withdrawing, for making the other so confused and for not being honest about his feelings.

 

Minseok really needed to correct that. Luhan should never have to feel that way in the first place so Minseok was going to be honest now.

 

He took one deep breath and steeled himself once more before he finally confessed.

 

"Look, I... I like you."

 

There he said it.

 

"I really, really do." He continued, looking Luhan directly in the eyes now to emphasise his point, even if he was turning awfully red.

 

There was torturing moment of silence, before Luhan gasped, looking up at Minseok with a shocked expression.

 

"You...You do?!" Luhan asked incredulously, looking at him wide eyed.

 

"Yeah, I do." Minseok answered meekly.

 

"But you..." Luhan wanted to continue, but Minseok stopped him to really make his point clear this time.

 

"I do really like you, love, I would even say, but I am not really sure about that myself yet. All that I know is that I had this huge crush on you since forever and when we became friends I thought I could just deal with it and that it was only a crush, but to be honest..." Minseok hesitated, taking a deep breath again.

 

"To be honest my feelings only grew stronger.” Luhan’s eyes widened even more at that.

 

“Whenever you were with me I just felt so comfortable and whenever I got the chance to randomly see you at the Hall I was so genuinely happy.” He exhaled, smile slowly forming on his lips.

 

“One simple message from you, be it 'Hi how are you', or 'Have you seen the game last night?', can make my entire day and not just that. It makes my heart beat faster, makes my insides bubble up with happiness and my smile so bright that Jongdae can't stop teasing me about it." Minseok paused again, smiling to himself at that memory, as if he had just gotten one of these messages now.

 

"I guess what I want to say is that I really like you as more than just a friend. I know that for a while now and I am very sorry that I've been just now able to tell you." He paused once again to exhale, feeling ten times lighter now that this weight hat been lifted off of his shoulders.

 

"I know that it was unfair to just evade you and to leave you out in the dark like this, but I didn't really know how to deal with the whole situation. I am truly very sorry for confusing you like this." Minseok paused once again. "I really hope that you can forgive me and that you still want to be with me after all this." He finished, lightly bowing his head as an apology.

 

After that, Minseok looked at Luhan once more, taking in the other's reaction after his confession.

 

The other was just sitting there, however, gaping at him incredulously. He seemed a bit shell shocked and it took him a moment to find his voice again.

 

"I... are you serious?" He finally asked, looking a bit dumbstruck.

 

"Dead serious." Minseok answered earnestly.

 

Now that it was out already, it was coming over Minseok's lips fairly easily.

 

Luhan just looked at him, eyes big with surprise before he slowly looked down, turning red as he nodded in understanding. It was awfully cute Minseok thought. For once Luhan was the shy one out of the two of them, bushing madly at Minseok's honest words and averting his eyes again.

 

_How lovely he is_ , Minseok thought once again, a smile tugging on his lips.

 

After a moment Luhan shyly looked up again, scratching the back of his head, while smiling at Minseok coyly. Minseok returned his smile, also blushing lightly as he was keeping eye contact with the other man. There seemed to be a silent mutual understanding that Minseok's feelings were reciprocated, judging Luhan's cute reaction, and Minseok could feel the happiness rising up in his stomach at he looked at the other man.

 

Suddenly Luhan furrowed his eyebrows, though, averting his eyes before looking at Minseok again questioningly.

 

"But...what about all the times I tried to flirt with you? Or the times I tried to kiss you? At the field, in my apartment...at the cafe?" Luhan asked uncertainty lacing his voice.

 

Minseok was surprised for a moment, a little gasp escaping his lips.

 

"You... You were really trying to kiss me!?" Minseok asked astounded.

 

Luhan looked at him stunned, eyes growing wide at Minseok surprised reaction.

 

"You didn't know!?" He asked astonished, shocked even. "How could you not know?!" Luhan continued dumbstruck. "I was so painfully obvious, I thought you would realise for sure! I mean, even your friends did! They kept teasing me about it whenever I couldn't shut up about you during sessions, winking at me whenever your name came up in one of our conversations!" Luhan confessed.

 

"Jongdae even told me that I was staring at you all the time and that I could only make it more obvious by wearing a neon-sign with your name on it!"

 

"Seriously!?" Minseok exclaimed.

 

_Jongdae that bastard._

 

He had known all along, still enjoying Minseok's und Luhan's mutual pinning and squirming behind their backs. He was going to get it the next time Minseok was going to see him.

 

"Seriously." Luhan answered genuinely. "He even told me it was creepy and that I should stop before you'd notice because you would think I was a creep for sure." Luhan admitted, scratching his head sheepishly.

 

"I really thought that you did eventually notice and that you grew so uncomfortable that you ran away. Twice" Luhan confessed and Minseok grew embarrassed by his own childish behaviour.

 

"Though sometimes I thought my feelings were reciprocated so I tried to make a move here and there. But whenever I did you just seemed super uncomfortable squirming away or shutting your eyes so I was sure you were just humouring me all the times you were joining in on the flirting.” Luhan continued.

 

“I mean... I know I kind of over did it in the shower, but you were responding so well that I was sure that you were into it." Luhan admitted shamelessly.

 

Minseok grew a bit red at the memory, though Luhan didn't seem to notice, too lost in his own thoughts.

 

"I thought I just needed to lure you out of your shell because I was so sure you were interested as well, and for a moment it had worked, but then again you just ran out on me leaving me hanging." Luhan said. "Quite literally." He added after a moment, snickering at Minseok's shocked expression.

 

"However, when I couldn't get a hold of you, I thought that I really had taken things too far and that I had maybe misinterpreted your behaviour. I mean, maybe you were just friendly or just blush very quickly, nothing to do with me." Luhan continued, furrowing his eyebrows at the memory.

 

"So in the end I decided to give it one last try and when we met in the storage room and talked things out I decided that I was going to make it as obvious as I can and that I would leave it alone once and for all, if you weren't interested."

 

"So you thought I wasn't interested?" Minseok asked startled.

 

"Well yeah, of course!" Luhan answered confused. "I mean, I basically told you all that mushy stuff about soulmates and tried to kiss you and you just ran out on me again! What was I supposed to think?" Luhan asked bewildered.

 

"I guess… if you put it that way..." Minseok just answered sheepishly.

 

"Well, what did you think?" Luhan asked curiously, looking at Minseok in disbelief.

 

"I just, well, I just thought that I was projecting." Minseok admitted embarrassed.

 

"Seriously!?" Luhan asked once again. "Man, you really are something." He laughed, getting up and ruffling Minseok's hair gently. He was still kind of in disbelief that this was really happening so he really wanted to touch Minseok to make sure that this was real.

 

"Stop, you are not really better yourself! You just could have said someting!" Minseok countered coyly.

 

"Maybe you are right." He snickered. "I am just glad that we finally established were we stand." He said, smiling warmly as he softly petted Minseok's head, making the other blush at the soft affection.

 

"So I guess that makes you my boyfriend now?" Luhan asked, making Minseok's heart skip several beats. He blushed even darker now, averting his eyes, but smiling nonetheless.

 

"If, if you want to." He answered, still flustered.

 

"Of course I do, I think we know as much already." Luhan laughed whole-heartedly.

 

"I guess." Minseok said, smiling to himself.

 

"Good." Luhan countered finally. "Then I think it's finally time for my kiss now. Don't you think so too, Minseok?" He whispered mischievously as he was grinning down at Minseok.

 

Minseok just swallowed heavily, nodding along to Luhan’s words and growing awfully flustered by the prospect of kissing Luhan for the first time. And with that he lifted his head and closed his eyes, directly planting a soft but lingering kiss on the other's plush lips.

 

It was soft and cautious at first, both of their lips melting softly into each other. They were still kissing with closed mouths, softly pecking each other, as Luhan slowly started to pull Minseok closer and deepen the kiss.

 

Minseok let out a soft sigh at that, opening up is lips eagerly for Luhan to explore his mouth. Luhan licked into the hot cavern languidly, slowly massaging Minseok’s tongue with his own, titling his head to get better access.

 

At that, Minseok griped the soft material of Luhan’s dress shirt, eagerly pressing him towards his bed. Luhan snickered a bit and smiled into the kiss at Minseok’s eagerness, but complied nonetheless.

 

With a soft thud both of them fell down and hit the surface of Minseok’s bed, Minseok on top of Luhan, as he was placing himself between Luhan’s legs. Luhan groaned at that, throwing his head back in pleasure. Minseok took that as a sign to continue what he was doing an pressed down to rub their clothed crotches together.

 

Luhan gasped again, though this time lightly gripping Minseok’s arms to stop him from what he was doing.

 

“Minseok.” Luhan tried softly, turning his head away to speak. But Minseok just took the opportunity to kiss down Luhan’s neck and to start fiddling with the other’s buttons.

 

“M- Minseok.” Luhan tried again, obviously affected. “Min, I really think we should stop.” And at that, Minseok finally lifted his head to stare up at Luhan with a dazed expression.

 

“W- why though?” He asked, voice awfully rough and sexy and Luhan’s resolve was already beginning to slip.

 

He gulped, looking at Minseok’s dark, lust filled eyes. Oh, how he wanted to devour the other and how turned on he was by the other’s eagerness. But Minseok still was kind of drunk and Luhan really didn’t want him to regret anything in the morning when they had just established this new kind of relationship. Especially since Minseok had bolted on him twice already because he was overwhelmed with a situation.

 

Luhan sighed once, hugging Minseok close to himself before he looked at him intently.

 

“I don’t think we should go any further than this when you are drunk. I don’t want you to regret anything in the morning.” Minseok looked at him with a mix of hunger and disbelief and something akin to grumpiness.

 

“Pff I know perfectly well what I’m doing and I’m not that drunk.” He said looking at Luhan hopefully an also a tiny bit annoyed.

 

“Maybe, but I don’t want to risk anything.” Luhan countered, rolling Minseok off of him so that they were lying next to each other. Minseok huffed again, though he complied nonetheless.

 

“Fine.” He said, looking up grumpily at a softly laughing Luhan. “I still want you to stay the night though, it’s late anyway and I don’t want you to leave like that.” He continued, looking up at Luhan with a glimmer of hope. Even if they won’t have sex, Minseok still wanted to keep Luhan close by for the night and maybe tomorrow morning...

 

“That’s fine by me.” Luhan said smiling, softly pecking Minseok’s nose as the other huffed again, still not entirely satisfied by the turn of events.

 

“I will make it up to you soon, I promise.” Luhan suddenly whispered huskily into Minseok’s ear, winking at the other as he drew his head back.

 

Minseok grew extremely red at that, even if he had hoped that that was were they headed to.

 

He couldn't wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! I know it was a long way to go but Minseok and Luhan ended up together at last :D
> 
> So I guess there will also finally be smut in the next chapter ;) Hope you'll be ready :p


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to update on time! Barely so, but I still managed. 
> 
> So here finally is some nice smut, hope you enjoy!

Minseok was currently running hot. Very, very hot. He was pressed flat against on of the shelves in the storage room of The Hall, squished between spare equipment and dusty old sport magazines, that were laid out in the entrance hall from time to time.

 

Luhan was there as well, pressing him against said shelf, passionately kissing Minseok senseless and sinfully grinding against him. Although Minseok’s eyes hand been closed the entire time, he slowly began to see stars dancing in front of his eyelids. He was running out of breath and his pants were growing tighter with any of Luhan’s teasing thrusts. The air was awfully hot around them and kind of suffocating, but then again Minseok wasn't so sure if that could also be attributed to the growing heat inside of his veins and the desire that was pumping through his blood.

 

If Luhan was going to keep that up, Minseok was sure that he wouldn’t be able to control himself much longer before he would beg the other to fuck him right then and there.

 

Frankly, he couldn't even quite remember how they had ended up like this. He was just making his way to one of the rest rooms, after he had joined Lay in Taemin’s dance classes, when he had passed Luhan in the hall.

 

His face had lit up and he was just about to greet the other cheerfully, as he saw the mischievous glint in Luhan’s eyes and the sly grin accompanying it. Before he could even think about its meaning, Luhan had already grabbed his hand and pushed him eagerly into the storage room, quieting his startled gasp with a gentle, yet firm, kiss.

 

Since they had officially gotten together last weekend, Luhan had made it his new purpose to tease and seduce Minseok the best he could without actually letting things get too much out of hand, always drawing back just before Minseok thought that Luhan was finally going to have his way with him. It was awfully frustrating and Minseok suspected that his balls would eventually fall off after weeks and weeks of sexual frustration, even far before they had gotten together already.

 

Luhan really was a horrible tease.

 

It had been roughly four days since the morning after they had fallen asleep on Minseok’s bed together. When Minseok had opened his eyes that day his heart had almost leapt inside of his chest at the sight of his crush sleeping right next him. No, not his crush. His boyfriend.

 

That’s right, _boyfriend_.

 

Minseok had felt the giddiness rising up inside him at that word. Slowly he began to recollect the last night’s events, blushing furiously after remembering his honest confession and what had followed after.

 

He had almost slept with Luhan that night and if he was perfectly honest he still very much would have liked to have sex with the other, even if it had probably been the right decision to not rush these things.

 

After all, it had been several years since the last time he had had sex and to be honest, he wasn’t even that experienced to begin with. He did have sex a couple of times already, but him and his High school boyfriend had only lasted about three months before Minseok had to leave for college and the two or three one-night stands he has had in college so far had been so unfulfilling and disappointing that he had given up trying all together.

 

With Luhan though, things were entirely different. Luhan was a tease, that he was sure of, if the shower incident was giving an indication on that. Luhan had planned to seduce him, to lure him in and to make Minseok surrender to him.

 

Minseok shuddered.

 

He really was eager for what was to come.

 

Or at least he had thought so. He had hoped for Luhan to finally take him, once he woke up, but the other had just blinked cutely at him, smiling fondly and caressing Minseok’s cheeks excruciatingly gentle.

 

Minseok had been a bit perplexed, happy too, of course, but mostly a bit confused by the gentle gesture, as he had expected Luhan to devour him whole once he was awake and sober.

 

Oh boy had he been wrong, though.

 

Instead of a passionate make-out session and hot sex, Minseok had gotten hot coffee a soft and innocent cuddle session. Not that he was complaining, though. Luhan had been nothing but sweet and gentle with him, now that he finally had Minseok where he wanted him. Still, Minseok had hoped for a little more...action to take the edge off his ever growing desire for the other man.

 

Sure, he could have tried to initiate something himself, but he was far too shy and inexperienced for that. Whenever he was with someone before he hadn’t been the one to make the first step and he was far too enamoured by Luhan to make a fool out of himself with more awkward fumbling than there already had been. After all he couldn’t just walk up to Luhan and ask him to sleep with him. Maybe he would be a bit bolder if he was drunk, or at least a little bit tipsy again, but Luhan had made it clear the he wouldn’t touch Minseok if he wasn’t completely sober and able to consent.

 

Minseok didn’t need to ponder long about getting Luhan to sleep with him, or at least to make-out with him, however. After their nice little breakfast at Minseok’s apartment, and a relaxing afternoon of watching Netflix on the couch, Luhan had used every occasion and possibility he had gotten to rile Minseok up.

 

They had seen each other afterwards, for breakfast once, Luhan teasingly feeding him cake, peppering him with soft coffee kisses. It would have almost passed as innocent and cute, if it hadn’t been for Luhan’s finger that was simultaneously drawing burning circles on Minseok’s leg beneath the table, dangerously close to his crotch.

 

Minseok had looked at Luhan wide-eyed, shocked by the other’s boldness, but only received a sly smirk in return before Luhan withdrew his hand, casually leaning back in his seat to take a sip of his coffee and diving into the next conversation as if nothing had happened.

 

To say Minseok was frustrated was an understatement.

 

The second time they had seen each other was a day later. Yifan had arranged a friendly match with the Prancing Pumas on the field next to The Hall. It was somewhere around noon so Luhan technically had to work at that time, but he had somehow managed to convince Jimin to cover him for the time being, sitting on one of the benches, while eagerly cheering for Minseok.

 

Minseok had been a bit embarrassed by Luhan’s loud shouts of motivation and admiration, especially after Baekhyun had imitated them with a sickeningly sweet tone of voice, and exaggerated wails and hand-gestures, but Minseok was happy nonetheless. (Even though he might have slapped Baekhyun on the back of his head as soon as no one was watching.)

 

The rest of the team had reacted fairly well, Yixing just smiling at him and patting his shoulder as he walked by and Yifan only lifting an eyebrow at him, although a small smile was forming on his lips, nonetheless.

 

Sehun had congratulated him on his good catch, as he admired the physiotherapist greatly, while Zitao had just scoffed and mumbled something like _about damn time, ge ge was talking my ears off about you all the time,_ under his breath. The rest of the team hadn’t really commented on his relationship but were accepting and supporting nonetheless.

 

Jongdae, of course, had known right away, as he had called Minseok the day after he had left the bar with Luhan, bombarding him with questions about what had happened between them the night before. Minseok had been a bit reluctant to tell, as he was still a bit embarrassed about how he had dragged Luhan to his flat, but he still was glad to be able to share his unabashed happiness with somebody.

 

Jongdae, though teasing him relentlessly about the whole ordeal, was nothing but supportive, even though Minseok still had to complain about the other knowing about their mutual feelings all along.

 

Minseok had felt a great sense of relief and happiness, seeing his teammates react so supportive, even though he was quite a bit annoyed as Chanyeol and Baekhyun were howling and whistling at him as Luhan was coming to greet him in the locker room, once the game had ended.

 

Most of his teammates had already left, so it wasn’t causing too much of a commotion when Luhan had showed up, but he still couldn't evade a few comments thrown at them about getting it on in the locker room.

 

Minseok had groaned at that, lowering his flushed face, pretending that he was only looking down to take his shoes off, while Luhan just laughed light-heartedly, assuring the other’s that he was just there to collect Minseok. Luhan had said it so nonchalantly that Minseok had believed him as well. That’s why he was truly taken by surprise when Luhan had straddled him in the middle of the locker room, kissing him passionately and with full force, once everybody had left.

 

He was gasping for air then, unsure of what was happening and, before he was even able to reciprocate, Luhan had already drawn away again, winking at him before he left the room, leaving Minseok sitting there hot and bothered.

 

The situation Minseok currently found himself in, pressed against the shelves of the storage room, horny and confused as Luhan suddenly drew away from their passionate kiss, was eerily similar to that.

 

“Eager much, are we?” He teased, as Minseok let out an embarrassing whine at the lost contact.

 

“Come on.” Minseok just whimpered as he tried to press closer to Luhan again.

 

“Ah, ah, ah.” The other just whispered teasingly, as he shook his had. “Now is not the time Minseokie.” He mumbled, though he still dropped hot, wet kisses down the column of Minseok’s neck. Minseok almost thought that Luhan was just playing, as the other suddenly let him down and drew away from his touch completely. Before Minseok even had the time to protest, the other was already adjusting his clothes and making his way back to the door.

 

“Maybe next time though.” He added, just before he closed the door, turning back to Minseok once more to wink at the hot, dishevelled mess of a person that he had created, and with that he was gone.

 

Minseok groaned in frustration, sliding down the shelf until he was sitting flat on the ground. His heart was still pumping so loud that he could hear the blood rushing in his ears as he was gasping for air.

 

He tried to catch his breath again, glancing disapprovingly at the growing problem in his pants.

 

“Maybe next time.” He scoffed, as he tried to adjust himself, fixing his clothes and hair too, to seem presentable as best as he could, before he headed outside the door as well.

 

*****

 

‘Next time’ seemed to be sooner than Minseok would have expected, though.

 

A day later, Yifan had ordered them to a late training session at The Hall. He wasn’t too opposed to the idea, as is meant more training sessions to get fit again, but he would have actually rather spent his evening with Luhan. The other had to work though, dealing with some stacks of paperwork he had to finish before Friday.

 

Minseok had been a bit disappointed at that, but at least he would be able to spend some time with Luhan after his training, maybe sipping a coffee or two with the other man while he was taking a break from his work.

 

As he made his was towards Luhan’s office, Minseok already felt the anticipation bubbling up inside him. He didn’t think that anything would happen that evening, even though they were the last two people hanging around at The Hall by now, but he was excited nonetheless. After all, every minute with Luhan was a precious one.

 

Minseok had knocked softy once, before he entered Luhan’s office, finding the other man haunched above a huge stack of paper, glasses atop of his nose and coffee in his hand. As soon as Minseok had entered the room, his whole face lit up and he stood up to give him a gentle greeting kiss, drawing the smaller in by his hips.

 

Minseok hummed in contentment, smiling into the kiss.

 

“Hey.” Luhan, whispered softly, drawing away only enough to be able to talk.

 

“Hey.” Minseok echoed, gazing into Luhan’s eyes as he was lifting a hand to caress the other’s cheek.

 

“How is it going?” He added after a moment, averting his eyes to look at the mountain of papers, lying on Luhan’s desk.

 

Luhan just sighed. “Could be better.” He muttered, as he reluctantly drew away, leading Minseok towards his desk to sit down.

 

“I have a whole lot of incomplete documents I have to finish, and I promised Jimin to finish his stuff as well so he could go to this college party with his friend.” Luhan scoffed.

 

“I own him one though because he substituted for me when I visited you at the game.”

 

“Oh.” Minseok just said as he blushed at that, though he was softly smiling at Luhan, nonetheless.

 

“What about you, though?” Luhan asked. “How was training?”

 

“Good.” Minseok answered, still smiling at Luhan before he shrugged lightly. “I’m a bit sore, though. I guess I’m still not used to regular training sessions again yet.” He said, as he was rubbing his shoulder.

 

“Oh, is that so?” Luhan asked in curiosity, although a bit of mischief was swinging in his voice.

 

“May I help you with that?” Luhan added, as he sauntered towards Minseok, coming to a halt behind the other’s chair.

 

Minseok shivered, gulping in anticipation.

 

“I could help you relax a bit.” Luhan whispered, learning down dangerously close to Minseok’s ear.

 

“If that is something you might be interested in.” He added, while slowly dragging his finger along the side of Minseok’s neck.

 

Minseok gasped at the touch, closing his eyes and nodding along to Luhan’s suggestion. It’s really all he could down.

 

“Come with me then.” Luhan had whispered, taking Minseok’s hand and leading him slowly towards the cot. Once arrived behind the curtain in front of the cot, Luhan sat Minseok down gently, positioning himself between the other’s legs.

 

He slowly leaned in to kiss a trail along the column of Minseok’s neck until he reached his ear and softly nipped on it.

 

“Should I help you get undressed?” He whispered seductively and all that Minseok could do was nod again. Luhan hummed in approval, slowly dragging his hands down to the hem of Minseok’s hoodie before dragging it over his head.

 

Minseok was bare beneath that, skin still a bit damp from his recent shower. He shivered slightly as the cold air hit his naked skin, but Luhan was sure to keep him warm with hot kisses trailing down his chest and upper body.

 

Minseok gasped at that, gripping Luhan’s shoulder for support as the other was sucking cautiously on one of his nipples. Luhan was nipping at the small nub, teasing it gently with his tongue and grazing it ever so slightly with his teeth. The sensation was incredible and Minseok couldn't help a moan escaping his lips.

 

Luhan kept his ministrations up for quite some time, alternating between Minseok’s nipples, taking the left one into his mouth while simultaneously teasing the other one between his fingers. Minseok thought he was on fire, feeling the heat slowly building in his guts.

 

“God… that feels incredible.” He mumbled, and Luhan seemed to take that as encouragement to up the ante a little, slowly sliding further down Minseok’s body.

 

Minseok hadn’t even realised that Luhan was now kneeling in front of him, far to concentrated on the searing kisses the other left on his stomach, dangerously near to his abdomen, before he suddenly heard the zipper of his trousers sliding down.

 

His eyes shot open as he felt Luhan’s hand on his crotch, and what he saw was almost taking his breath away. The other man was down on his knees, looking up at Minseok with dark eyes as he slowly freed Minseok's member out of his underwear.

 

Minesok gasped at that and Luhan gave him a few experimental strokes to feel him writhe beneath his hand, before he tugged the other’s trousers and boxers further down the older’s legs. Getting the hint, Minseok stood up to get rid of his clothes, while Luhan was grabbing the heated oil on the small table beside them.

 

If Minseok hadn’t been so far gone already, heart hammering in chest and blood drumming in ears, he would have realised that Luhan must have planed the whole scenario, as the already heated oil was far too convenient to be unintentional.

 

As it was, Minseok didn’t notice though and eagerly sat down on the cot again, while he waited for Luhan to touch him again. He was willing and horny, his cock already fully hard and proudly standing between his legs, although Luhan hadn’t even touched him properly.

 

The anticipation was rising, and Minseok expected Luhan to kneel in front of him again, but as the first oil-slicked finger touched him it went to his shoulders instead of his dick.

 

Luhan had coated his hand entirely with the warm oil and began to knead Minseok’s sore muscles while simultaneously kissing his neck. Minseok whined. Luhan was playing with him again and if he wasn’t so desperate and eager already he would have enjoyed Luhan’s strong hands soothing his pain. But as it was now, Minseok just really wanted these strong hands to massage other body parts than his shoulders. He did have enough of that torture in his sessions with Luhan already. He whined again and Luhan chuckled at him, letting his hand wander lower on Minseok’s back.

 

“I though you said you were sore.” Luhan murmured into Minseok’s ear, nipping gently after he was done talking. Minseok huffed. Luhan was teasing him again and Minseok really was too horny for these kinds of games now.

 

With one swift motion he turned around so that he was facing Luhan again, diving forward to kiss the other, while grabbing him by his hips and pulling him between his legs.

 

Luhan just laughed into his mouth, pulling away to muster Minseok slyly.

 

“So eager.” He drawled, letting his oil-slicked hand wander lower between their bodies until it settled firmly on Minseok’s cock.

 

“Guess you are not sore enough yet.” Luhan mumbled into Minseok’s skin, making the other's face grow red up to the top of his ears at the dirty comment.

 

Before Minseok could retort anything however, Luhan began to stroke his cock, gliding smoothly up and down, thanks to the warm oil. Minseok moaned, throwing his head back in pleasure as he let Luhan work his magic.

 

“That’s how you like it don’t you?” Luhan asked, as he slid down to his knees again, looking up at Minseok with his big eyes. The situation was eerily reminiscent of that one session where Luhan had gotten Minseok hard on accident. The only difference was that Luhan had gotten him hard on purpose now and that he was also going to get Minseok off this time.

 

Minseok gulped, looking down at Luhan as the other was slowly tugging on his cock, gliding and twisting every now and then, while directly looking into Minseok’s eyes. He was unbelievably turned on already and if he was honest he didn’t think he would last much longer with Luhan looking at him like that. It just took another few strong, determined tugs for Minseok to gradually lose his mind and just as he thought he was about to come, as Luhan had began to slowly carress his balls in time, he pulled away, making Minseok sigh in frustration.

 

“Be patient.” He teased, grinning up at Minseok, chuckling a bit at the other’s pout. “It’ll be even better this way, trust me.”

 

And with that Luhan came up again, kissing the other so passionately that he had almost made Minseok forget about his initial complains. After Luhan did nothing more than languidly kissing him for the next few minutes though, Minseok began to whine again.

 

Luhan chuckled again, but otherwise showed no reaction to Minseok’s pleads, making the other even more frustrated. Lost in thought about what an awful tease Luhan was and how he was going to get back at him, Minseok didn’t notice how Luhan had slicked up his fingers once more, until he felt one of the warm digits circling his entrance, making him gasp.

 

Luhan smirked, using the opportunity to slide his tongue into Minseok’s mouth, eagerly begging for access. Minseok, of course, let him, muffling his moans with the other’s mouth as Luhan was slowly inserting his first finger.

 

It felt amazing, Minseok had to admit.

 

Luhan really had magic fingers, he thought, as the other was slowly making him come undone, pumping his finger in and out.

 

The second finger was a stretch and burned just a little bit, but with Luhan’s other hand slowly jerking him off again, easing him trough the pain, the discomfort quickly gave away to heady pleasure.

 

Luhan was reaching deeper now, grazing that sweet spot that Minseok was never quite able to reach himself, with his long slender fingers and Minseok was already a mess by now, moaning wantonly under the other’s ministrations.

 

“I have thought about that.” Luhan admitted, speeding up his fingers. “You, lying here open and spread out before me, while I am working my fingers in and out of you.” Minseok’s ears grew red at the filthiness of Luhan’s words, but they turned him on nonetheless.

 

“Thought about how good I could make you feel with my fingers.” Luhan whispered, hitting Minseok’s prostate spot on now. “You don’t know how hard it was to not let them stray when your skin was just so warm and soft and pale.” He continued, pumping Minseok’s cock faster.

 

“I bet you thought about that too.”

 

Minseok gasped.

 

Luhan was right. He had thought about that too, more than once already. Groaning at Luhan’s words, he buried his face into the other’s neck, embarrassed by the accuracy of his statement.

 

“Mhh there we are.” Luhan chuckled, kissing Minseok’s head softly in harsh contrast to his filthy words.

 

“Bet you thought about my warm, oil-slicked fingers suddenly sliding down your ass, dipping between your mounds.” He teased, pumping his fingers even harder inside the other, making it harder for Minseok to not come on the spot.

 

“Thinking that if you liked my fingers on your legs and shoulders, you would surely also like them buried deep inside your ass or wrapped around your cock, just like they are now. Am I right, Minseokie?”

 

Minseok moaned loudly, fucking back onto Luhan’s fingers, far to gone already to give a coherent answer.

 

“If you like my fingers so much already,” Luhan began, slipping the third digit into Minseok in the meantime, making the other gasp, “than just image how my cock would feel, buried deep inside you.”

 

The dirty words combined with one particularly hard thrust against Minseok’s prostate is what did it and Minseok was coming violently all over Luhan’s hand and his own naked stomach, one last groan spilling from his lips.

 

Luhan jerked him through it, only stopping when Minseok was whimpering in over-stimulation, slumping forward to rest his head against the other’s chest.

 

Minseok needed a moment to catch his breath again, whimpering once again as Luhan pulled his fingers out of his ass. After a few minutes, he let out a satisfied sigh, leaning back to look at Luhan again, who was still standing there between his legs.

 

“Good?” Luhan asked, looking down at his dishevelled boyfriend, chuckling slightly.

 

“Good.” Minseok nodded, laughing cutely, a bit embarrassed of his strong orgasm.

 

Luhan’s smile grew even wider and Minseok reciprocated it in kind. Though after a moment it vanished as he felt Luhan’s clothed hard member pressing against his leg.

 

Frowning he let his hand drop to the bulge inside the other’s pants pressing into it lightly as Luhan closed his eyes, lips parted into a soft sigh.

 

“Should I take care of that?” Minseok asked gently pressing the palm of his hand harder against Luhan’s cock.

 

“I would like nothing better than that...” Luhan answered, though he took a hold of Minseok’s hand and slowly lifted it up to his mouth to kiss it, drawing it away from his aching member. “But I really need to finish these stupid documents. Yifan will be here in less than an hour to get me, so I need to finish this until then.” He sighed.

 

Minseok nodded in understanding, caressing Luhan’s cheek softly with his other hand.

 

“You can pay me back next time though.” Luhan whispered, winking at Minseok in the process.

 

“And don’t think I won’t be jacking off tonight at the thought of you cumming on my fingers.” He added after a moment, making Minseok flush in embarrassment and also a bit horny at the thought of Luhan touching himself while thinking of him.

 

“Though now we really need to get you cleaned up and dressed again.” Luhan chuckled, looking at the mess between their bodies. Minseok smiled sheepishly nodding in agreement, as Luhan handed him a wet towel from the table beside the cot.

 

Minseok rose his eyebrows at that, looking at Luhan sceptically.

 

“Did you plan that?” He asked incredulously, letting Luhan wipe him clean.

 

“Maybe.” Luhan just answered grinning to himself, without even sparing Minseok a look.

 

Luhan really was something else, Minseok thought, and it wasn’t until he was fully dressed again, seeing Luhan off at the gates in front of The Hall that he really understood how well Luhan had prepared for the whole situation.

 

Making his way towards his car he shook his head, smiling to himself, eager for what else was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the ending wasn't rushed too much, but I didn't want to drag it out for too long. 
> 
> I think it will only be another two chapters now (mostly smut and a bit of fluff) before I'm done with this stroy. Thanks for reading so far and I really appreciate all of your kudos and comments!

**Author's Note:**

> I have no clue about the profession of a physiotherapist, but I’ve been to one myself and I know that they don’t really use oil to massage you. That’s actually rather a thing if you go to a thai massage, but whatever, let’s just pretend it’s normal for the sake of the fic. It's going to be more fun like that anyway ;)
> 
> Football isn't my forte as well, so I try to keep it as vague as possible.


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